IC-NRLF 


T676 


\SKA  ETHNOLOGY 
A)LK  LORE  SERIES 

ADDISON  E.  SHELDON.  Editor 


FOLK-SONG    OF   NEBRASKA   AND    THE 
CENTRAL    WEST 

A  SYLLABUS 


By  LOUISE)  POUND,  PH.  D. 

Associate  Professor  of  the  English  Language 
University  of  Nebraska 


From  reports  givers  before  the  Annual   Meeting  of  the  Academy  of 
Sciences  1913-15 


OFFICERS  NEBRASKA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES  1915-16 

President ."" Lawrence  Bruner,   Lincoln. 

Secretary Addison  E.  Sheldon,  Lincoln. 

Treasurer A.  J.  Mercer,  Kearney. 

First  Vice-President C.  O.  Carlson,  Crete. 

V.  P.  Earth  Sciences  Section G.  E.  Condra,  Lincoln. 

V.  P.  Physical  Sciences  and  Mathematics  Section 

G.  D.  Swezey,  Lincoln. 
V.  P.  Biological  Sciences  and  Medical  Section 

C.  W.  M.  Poynter,  Omaha. 

V.  P.  Ethnology  and  Folk-Lore M.  R.  Gilmore,  Lincoln. 

V.  P.  Engineering  Section G.  R.  Chatburn,  Lincoln. 


Nebraska  Academy  of  Sciences 

Publications 
Vol.  IX  No.  3. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE. 

Preface 1-2 

Introduction 3-8 

I.  English  and  Scottish  Popular  Ballads 9 

II.  Songs  of  British  or  Scottish  Origin 12 

III    Irish  or  Pseudo-Irish  Ballads  and  Songs 15 

IV.  Songs  of  Lovers  Reunited 16 

V.  Songs  of  the  Tragic  Death  of  the  True  Love,  or 

Lovers 17 

VI.  Dying  Messages  and  Confessions 20 

VII.  Pioneer  and  Western  Songs 22 

VIII.  Songs  of  Criminals  and  Outlaws 33 

IX.  Elegies  and  Complaints 35 

X.  Songs  of  Dying  Soldiers  and  Other  War  Pieces '9 

XL  Songs  of  Notable  Tragedies  or  Disasters 41 

XII.  Songs  of  the  Lost  at  Sea 41 

XIII.  Songs  in  Dialogue  or  Two-Part  Songs 42 

XIV.  Sentimental  Lyrics 45 

XV.  Popular  Lyrics  of  Homesickness 49 

XVI.  Memories  of  Objects  Familiar  in  Childhood 50 

XVII.  Moralizing  or  Reflective  Pieces 51 

XVIII.  Religious  Pieces 53 

XIX.  Temperance  Songs 55 

XX.  Railroad  Songs  and  Narratives 56 

XXI.  Humorous  Narratives 57 

XXII.  Humorous  Songs 59 

XXIII.  Negro  or  Pseudo-Negro  Songs 63 

XXIV.  Songs  Dealing  with  Indian  Material 66 

XXV.  Songs  of  Familiar  Literary  Origin 67 

XXVI.  Movement  Songs 68 

XXVII.  Miscellaneous  Songs  and  Fragments 69 

XXVIII.  Singing  Games 73 

XXIX.  Marching  Songs 75 

XXX.  Sequence  Songs  and  Rhymes 75 

XXXI.  Nursery  Rhymes  and  Fragments 76 

XXXII.  Skipping  Rope  Songs  or  Rhymes 78 

818093 


EDITOR'S  PREFACE 

More  than  ten  years  ago,  at  the  suggestion  of  Professor  H. 
M.  Belden  of  the  University  of  Missouri,  President  of  the  Ameri 
can  Folk-Lore  Society,  Miss  Louise  Pound  began  the  collection 
of  Nebraska  folk-songs  as  a  contribution  to  the  literature  and 
history  of  Nebraska.  This  pamphlet  is  the  first  printed  guide 
to  the  total  results.  It  is,  as  the  title  page  indicates,  a  syllabus 
only,  giving,  with  brief  comment,  the  first  stanza,  or  most  familiar 
lines,  of  the  songs  sung  by  the  people  of  Nebraska,  passing  by 
word  of  mouth  from  singer  to  hearer  and  thus  perpetuated.  It 
is  the  initial  step,  it  is  hoped,  toward  the  publication  of  a  com 
plete  collection,  with  full  text,  of  Nebraska  folk-songs  and  it  3 
music, — which  is  the  ultimate  goal. 

In  the  early  settlement  of  Nebraska  were  blended  two  main 
stocks  of  American  born  ancestry.  The  larger  came  from  New 
England,  New  York  and  Pennsylvania,  via  the  states  of  the  old 
Northwest  Territory  through  Iowa.  The  lesser  came  from  Vir 
ginia  and  the  Carolinas  through  Kentucky,  southern  Indiana, 
southern  Illinois  and  Missouri.  The  former,  in  the  main,  gave 
Nebraska  her  constitution,  laws,  political  and  business  frame 
work.  The  latter,  far  beyond  its  numbers,  contributed  to  the 
oratory,  literature  and  folk-lore  of  the  new  commonwealth. 
Fresh  in  the  mind  of  the  editor  as  this  is  written  are  the  child 
hood  memories  of  forty  years  ago  and  the  wonderful  phrases, 
folk-tales  and  folk-songs  which  came  into  our  community  with 
its  southern  strain  of  settlers.  These  southern  backwoods  vo 
cabularies,  stories  and  ballads  were  never  ending  entertainment 
to  children  of  northern  stock,  for  they  revealed  to  us  a  rude 
literature,  quaint  and  uncouth,  transcending  all  the  tales  of 
our  grandmothers  in  novel  interest.  Ours  were,  without  doubt, 
as  novel  to  them.  Both  the  north  and  the  south  are  contributors 
to  this  collection. 

The  material  of  this  pamphlet  is,  as  Miss  Pound  shows, 
mostly  migrant  from  Europe,  often  strangely  altered  in  its 
journey  from  the  Atlantic  coast  to  the  Nebraska  prairies.  I  cannot 
help  thinking  there  are  yet  to  be  found  additional  songs  of  purely 
American  origin:  for,  while  the  mediaeval  minstrel  may  never 
have  sung  here  in  ivied  castles,  there  dwelt  in  each  pioneer  neigh 
borhood  of  the  American  frontier  the  minstrel  successor,  generally 
an  odd  character,  half  genius  and  half  jester,  who  was  log  cabin 
and  sod  house  entertainer,  and  made  his  own  contributions  of 
song  and  story  to  the  stock  he  had  inherited.  Many  of  these,  I 
know,  have  lived  in  Nebraska. 

[85]  (1) 


Besides  the  folk-song  of  Nebraska  in  the  English  tongue  there 
is  another  Nebraska  folk-song,  more  varied  in  its  origins.  In 
cluded  in  it  are  the  songs  of  the  Nebraska  Indians,  especially 
those  of  the  Pawnee  tribe;  songs  of  the  Canadian  voyageurs 
who  were  the  first  white  explorers,  and  folk-lore  of  the  many 
European  peoples  who  have  found  homes  here  for  themselves 
and  their  children.  This  is  a  rich  field  for  the  lovers  of  folk-lore, 
and  progress  in  its  study  and  organization  is  just  beginning. 

The  collection  of  this  Nebraska  material  by  Miss  Pound  and 
its  publication  by  the  Nebraska  Academy  of  Sciences  is  part  of  a 
nation-wide  movement,  fostered  by  the  American  Folk-Lore 
Society,  whose  aim  is  to  preserve,  publish  and  popularize  exact 
knowledge  of  that  most  interesting  part  of  the  folk  life,  which 
expresses  itself  most  fully  in  the  folk-song.  In  Nebraska  it  finds 
congenial  company  with  the  research  work  in  Nebraska  ethno 
logy  and  history,  carried  on  and  published  under  the  auspices  of 
the  Nebraska  Academy  of  Sciences  and  Nebraska  History 
Seminar  of  the  State  University. 

One  of  the  main  purposes  of  the  present  publication  is  to 
reach  every  section  of  Nebraska  with  copies  of  this  pamphlet, 
stimulating  interest,  reviving  memories  now  dormant  and  bring 
ing  to  light  the  texts  of  many  songs  familiar  to  the  hearts  but 
unknown  to  the  books  of  Nebraska.  As  an  incentive  to  this 
end  the  full  text  of  the  selections  in  Chapter  VII,  "Pioneer  and 
Western  Songs"  is  printed. 

To  each  reader  of  this  pamphlet  goes  this  special  request  from 
the  editor:  Send  at  once  to  Miss  Louise  Pound,  University  of 
Nebraska,  Lincoln,  the  text  of  any  additions  known  to  you,  with 
exact  information  of  the  circumstances  regarding  their  use  in 
Nebraska,  together  with  your  own  address. 

For  the  illustrations  the  editor  is  to  be  held  solely  responsible. 

ADDISON  E.  SHELDON 
University  of  Nebraska, 
October  1,  1915. 


186]   (2) 


FOLK-SONG  OF  NEBRASKA  AND  THE  CENTRAL  WEST 

PURPOSE  OF  SYLLABUS.  Of  interest  to  both  the  student  of 
folk-song  and  the  student  of  literature  are  the  themes  and  motives 
of  the  popular  song  of  recent  times,  the  types  of  narrative,  the 
nature  of  the  sentiment  and  the  humor,  which  make  an  im 
pression  strong  enough  to  secure  preservation.  What  is  the 
general  character  of  the  material  commending  itself  to  the 
American  folk-consciousness  in  the  period  just  passing?  Of  the 
thousands  of  songs  having  currency,  which  types  have  the 
people  liked  well  enough  to  remember  and  to  hand  on?  The 
answer  to  questions  like  the  foregoing  should  be  based  on  wide 
spread  collection,  followed  by  analysis  and  comparison  of  the 
materials  secured.  There  are  now  many  enthusiastic  recoyerers 
of  ballads  and  folk-songs  in  the  United  States,  especially  in  the 
Atlantic  States,  the  South,  and  the  Southwest1;  indeed,  contem 
porary  interest  in  the  recovery  and  preservation  of  folk-song  is 
now  at  a  high  level.  The  interest  of  most  American  collectors 
has  centered  hitherto  in  registering  the  survival  of  English  and 
Scottish  popular  ballads  in  this  country,  or  in  following  the  fate 
of  Old  World  songs  which  have  migrated  to  the  New.  The  songs 
and  ballads  of  American  origin,  preserved  alongside  these  aliens 
and  persisting  under  the  same  conditions,  have  received  less 
attention.  For  example  the  collection,  of  national  scope,  made 
through  the  United  States  Commissioner  of  Education,  at  the 
instance  of  Professor  C.  A.  Smith,  is,  at  least  as  yet,  a  collection 
of  English  and  Scottish  ballads  in  America  and  of  these  only. 

The  Nebraska  collection  listed  and  classified  in  the  following 
pages  is  neither  so  exhaustive  as  might  be  wished,  nor  was  it 
gathered  in  so  systematic  a  way.  Nevertheless  a  syllabus  or 
finding  list  of  the  collection  in  its  present  state  will  assist,  it  is 
believed,  in  the  identification  and  comparison  of  American 

1  See  chiefly  the  immense  collections  in  the  Harvard  library;  the  texts 
printed  in  The  Journal  of  American  Folk-Lore;  A  Syllabus  of  Kentucky  F oik- 
Song  by  H.  G.  Shearin  and  J.  H.  Coombs  (1911);  the  Bulletin  of  the  Missouri 
Folk-Lore  Society  (1910);  Cowboy  Songs  by  J.  A.  Lomax,  New  York  (1910); 
also  the  collections  of  Mr.  Phillips  Barry  for  New  England,  of  Professor  C. 
A.  Smith  in  Virginia,  and  of  Professor  Reed  Smith  in  South  Carolina.  The 
most  complete  bibliographical  references  for  balladry  in  America  are  to  be 
found  in  Professor  H.  M.  Belden's  article  in  The  Journal  of  American  Folk- 
Lore,  XXIV,  1-23. 

The  present  writer  wishes  to  acknowledge  indebtedness  for  some  points 
of  arrangement  and  presentation  to  the  syllabus  of  Professor  Shearin.  Com 
plete  texts  of  several  of  the  pieces  listed  in  the  following  pages  are  to  be  found 
in  the  writer's  "Traditional  Ballads  in  Nebraska",  The  Journal  of  American 
Folk-Lore,  XXVI,  351-366. 

[87]  (3) 


4   [88]  NEBRASKA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

folk-pieces,  and  will  help  to  determine  their  diffusion.  The 
Nebraska  collection,  though  open  to  the  charge  of  partiality, 
deserves  the  charge,  it  is  hoped,  in  less  degree  than  most  col 
lections  made  heretofore.  The  Old  World  pieces  have  the  greater 
interest  because  of  their  longer  history  and,  usually,  their  higher 
poetical  quality;  and  in  the  Nebraska  collection,  too,  greater 
effort  was  made  to  secure  these.  But  a  collection  of  folk-song 
should  be  what  its  name  implies.  It  should  register  what  the 
people  have  cared  to  preserve,  regardless  of  questions  of  origin, 
or  quality,  or  technique. 

The  arrangement  in  the  following  pages  is  provisional;  often 
the  same  piece  might  be  classified  to  advantage  in  several  groups. 
Where  fragments  only  were  secured  sometimes  these  fragments 
were  full  enough  for  identification  and  sometimes  not.  From  the 
stray  stanzas  remaining,  a  ballad  or  song  might  seem  to  belong 
to  one  group  when,  if  the  whole  were  at  hand,  it  might  prove  to 
belong  elsewhere.  In  general  the  chief  wish  in  the  presentation 
of  material  has  been  to  differentiate  it  into  classes.  An  effort 
has  been  made  to  bring  pieces  of  the  same  general  type  together, 
so  that  the  themes  or  motives  which  they  exhibit  and  the  relative 
popularity  of  these  will  be  clear  at  a  glance.  In  recovering  ballads 
and  songs,  more  attention  was  given  to  securing  representative 
variety  than  to  the  accumulation  of  multiple  texts  of  individual 
pieces. 

SOURCES  OF  MATERIAL.  "Folk-Song  of  Nebraska"  would  be 
misleading  as  a  heading  for  the  following  lists,  and  was  discarded 
in  favor  of  "Folk-Song  of  Nebraska  and  the  Central  West". 
Although  in  every  instance  the  pieces  were  recovered  in  Nebraska, 
the  greater  part  were  not  learned  in  this  state  but  were  brought 
from  elsewhere.  The  provenience  of  each  piece  has  interest  and 
but  for  the  space  demanded  by  the  entry  of  details  would  have 
received  systematic  mention.  No  compositions  among  those  in 
cluded  took  shape  in  Nebraska,  so  far  as  could  be  determined, 
except  "The  Kinkaiders'  Song"  (VII,  16)  and  probably  "The 
Little  Old  Sod  Shanty"  (VII,  4),  both  adaptations  of  older  songs 
originating  elsewhere.  The  songs  in  the  Nebraska  collection 
were  brought  to  this  region  from  Indiana,  Missouri,  Illinois, 
Wyoming,  Iowa,  Wisconsin,  Colorado,  New  York,  etc.  For  the 
most  part  they  were  preserved  in  the  memory  of  some  dweller  in 
an  outlying  region,  as  on  a  ranch,  or  by  some  villager,  or  they 
are  current  in  some  isolated  community.  A  few  were  derived 
from  manuscript  collections  of  songs  (as  I,  3,  12;  II,  15,  16,  etc.). 
Not  many  came  from  city  dwellers,  and  most  of  the  small  group 
which  did  were  learned  in  childhood  on  a  farm  or  in  a  village. 

The  recording  of  the  tunes  of  songs  is  of  special  value  but 
difficult.    For  most  of  those  cited  here  the  words  only  have  been 


FOLK-SONG  OF  NEBRASKA  [89]  5 

obtained.  In  many  cases  it  was  possible  to  determine  the  com 
poser,  or  composers  of  the  piece,  or  the  year  of  its  original  appear 
ance.  So  for  example  with  "Lorena"  (XIV,  11),  or  with  some  of 
the  songs  of  H.  C.  Work  or  of  George  F.  Root.  It  is  always 
surprising  how  soon  the  memory  is  lost  of  the  authorship  of 
even  the  most  widely  circulated  songs.  No  doubt  canvass  of 
the  popular  lyrics  of  the  early  and  the  later  part  of  the  nine 
teenth  century,  and  wider  familiarity  with  the  works  of  minor 
poets,  would  add  materially  to  the  number  of  these  identifications. 
But  for  a  certain  percentage  of  New  World  pieces,  as  of  Old,  it 
would  now  be  wholly  impossible  to  trace  the  time  and  place  of 
their  appearance,  or  the  manner  of  their  composition.  This  is 
very  difficult  even  for  pieces  like  "The  Death  of  Garfield" 
(VI,  2)  or  "Jesse  James"  (VIII,  2);  although  they  have  arisen 
and  found  diffusion  before  our  eyes,  as  it  were. 

TESTS  OF  INCLUSION.  The  chief  requisite  for  inclusion  as 
belonging  to  folk-song,  in  the  following  syllabus,  was  recovery 
from  oral  tradition.  The  pieces  listed  were  learned  by  their 
singers  not  from  the  printed  page  but  from  the  singing  of  others, 
and  have  by  this  time  an  existence  not  dependent  upon  a  written 
original.  The  main  essential  of  a  folk-song  is  that  the  people 
sing  it;  that  it  has  "lived  in  the  folk-mouth"1,  and  has  per 
sisted  for  a  fair  period  of  years.  Entries  have  not  been  limited 

1  To  the  present  writer  it  seems  a  mistake  to  make  style  standard-giving 
in  a  collection  of  folk-song.  There  are  many  who  seem  to  hold  as  standard- 
giving  the  style  prevailing  in  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries;  all  songs 
of  whatever  time  conforming  to  these  in  tone  and  diction  are  "genuine"; 
all  others  are  spurious.  Usually,  too,  the  former  are  assumed  to  have  some 
romantic-mystic  "communal"  origin,  while  the  latter  are  termed  "art"  poetry. 
But  is  there  such  a  thing  as  a  permanent  or  eternal  style  in  folk-song?  Not 
unless  reference  is  had  to  the  circumstance  that  folk-song  is  addressed  to  the 
ear  only;  that  on  its  appeal  to  the  ear  depends  its  vitality.  There  is  a  "history 
of  taste  "  for  folk-poetry  just  as  for  book-poetry.  There  are  as  great  differences 
between  the  folk-poetry  of  the  sixteenth  and  the  twentieth  centuries  as  be 
tween  the  book  poetry  of  the  sixteenth  and  the  twentieth  centuries. 

When  we  contrast  the  older  and  the  newer  in  folk-song  it  becomes  obvious 
that  the  superiority  for  persistence  in  the  popular  mouth  belongs  with  the 
former;  nor  is  this  to  be  wondered  at.  The  older  singer  composed  for  the 
>ear;  otherwise  his  work  was  vain.  The  newer  writes  for  the  eye,  both  words 
and  music;  instead  of  professional  musicians  we  now  have  printing.  Skill 
in  creating  memorable  songs  is  more  likely  to  characterize  composition  of 
!the  first  type  than  of  the  second.  Much  in  modern  song  is  unsingable  and 
unrememberable;  no  one  can  expect  it  to  make  a  deep  impression  on  the 
popular  mind.  In  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries  poets,  whatever  their 
class,  were  likely  to  be  singers  too.  If  we  approach  popular  song  from  the 
side  of  musical  history,  it  is  clear  enough  that  contributions  to  folk-song 
should  be  especially  rich  at  a  time  when  the  connection  between  composition 
and  delivery  was  very  close.  In  the  sixteenth  century  song  was  as  nearly 
universalized  as  it  is  likely  to  be  for  a  long  time  to  come.  Some  musical  pro 
ficiency  was  demanded  of  nearly  everybody,  whether  belonging  to  the  upper 


6  [90]  NEBRASKA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

to  song-narratives,  i.  e.,  to  ballads  proper,  but  popular  lyrics 
of  many  classes  have  been  admitted,  provided  they  may  be 
said,  in  the  sense  noted,  to  have  existence  in  folk-song.  As 
already  indicated,  for  some  of  the  pieces  entered  no  printed 
original  has  ever  been  found ;  on  the  other  hand,  a  ballad  or  song 
was  not  omitted  because  it  happens  to  have  been  or  to  be  still 
well-known  in  print.  Scrap-book  collections  of  clippings  from 
"Old  Favorites"  columns  of  newspapers  have  often  afforded 
variant  texts,  and  have  helped  in  identifications;  but  pieces 
found  in  such  form  only  have  not  been  included.  An  attempt  was 
also  made  to  list  children's  songs,  and  singing  games  and  rhymes 
of  various  kinds.  Here  again  the  fact  that  many  of  these  are 
accessible  in  books  was  not  allowed  to  stand  in  the  way  of  their 
admission,  provided  that  those  reporting  them  had  not  learned 
them  there. 

Left  out  of  account,  however,  even  when  the  singers  had 
never  seen  the  printed  text,  are  folk-songs  of  the  following  types: — 
(1)  Certain  patriotic  pieces  of  widespread  currency,  as  "Yankee 
Doodle",  "America",  "Dixie",  "Marching  Through  Georgia", 
"John  Brown's  Body",  "Tramp,  Tramp,  Tramp,  the  Boys  Are 
Marching",  (2)  Certain  very  popular  religious  songs,  as  "Over 
There",  "Onward  Christian  Soldiers",  "The  Lily  of  the  Valley", 
known  to  many  who  have  never  seen  them  in  printed  form.  A 
few  of  these  pieces  have  been  included  however.1  (3)  Many 
minstrel  songs  of  the  type  of  "Massa's  in  the  Cold,  Cold  Ground", 
or  "My  Old  Kentucky  Home".  (4)  popular  songs  fairly  recent 
in  origin,  as  "There'll  Be  a  Hot  Time  in  the  Old  Town  Tonight", 
and  especially  sentimental  songs  of  the  parlor  or  drawing  room 
type.2  (5)  Student's  songs,  like  "Bingo",  "My  Bonnie  Lies 
Over  the  Ocean",  except  in  a  few  cases  where  those  reporting 
the  songs  had  never  known  student  nor  city  life. 

SOME  MODES  OF  DIFFUSION.  How  did  the  songs  in  this 
collection  win  diffusion?  Chiefly  they  were  learned  in  childhood 
or  youth  in  the  east,  the  south,  the  north,  or  in  the  Old  World, 

classes  or  to  the  lower.  The  renaissance  lyric,  words  and  music,  seems  to  have 
had  its  origin  in  the  higher  culture  of  the  times,  but  it  attained  unparalleled 
popularity. 

Acknowledgement  that  the  period  of  the  English  renaissance  had  the 
most  memorable  style  in  folk-song  is  not  the  same  thing  however  as  acknowledg 
ment  that  only  such  folk-songs  as  conform  to  this  style  are  "genuine".  The 
making  of  popular  ballads — that  variety  of  folk-song  having  especial  interest 
— is  not  a  "closed  account",  though  the  making  of  ballads  or  songs  in  the 
older  and  more  memorable  style  maybe;  nor  is  some  hypothetical  communal- 
mystic  manner  of  origin,  based  on  this  older  style,  a  valid  test  for  determining 
what  is  folk-poetry  and  what  is  not. 

1  See  Group  XVII. 

2  Illustrated  in  Groups  XIV,  XV. 


FOLK-SONG  OF  NEBRASKA  [91]  7 

and  were  then  brought  by  migration  to  the  middle  west.  Here 
they  have  been  kept  alive  in  the  memory  of  pioneers,  or  emigrants, 
and  their  descendants.  Often  one  acquaintance  taught  a  song 
to  another,  a  member  of  the  same  community;  or  sometimes 
the  words  were  transcribed  from  hearing  and  preserved  in  a  manu 
script  song-book  or  a  scrap-book.  The  colored  "minstrels"  of 
the  past  generation  who  traveled  from  one  section  of  the  country 
to  another,  giving  entertainments1  undoubtedly  gave  currency  to  a 
surprising  number  of  songs.  Among  their  favorites  were  the 
compositions  of  Stephen  C.  Foster,  Will  S.  Hays,  and  others;  in 
deed  pseudo-plantation  songs  and  melodies,  such  as  those  of  "Old 
Dan"  Emmett's  singers,  or  those  sung  by  Sam  Lucas,  have 
shown,  as  a  group,  especial  vitality.  Still  other  songs,  those  of 
a  religious  or  moralizing  character,  were  popularized  by  Moody 
and  Sankey  and  other  revivalists;  and  some  were  floated  into 
general  currency  at  temperance  gatherings.  Another  group  of 
popular  songs,  humorous,  sentimental,  narrative,  gained  geo 
graphical  distribution  by  their  sale  in  sheet-music  form,  or  with 
the  words  only  printed,  by  itinerant  vendors  of  patent  medicines 
and  the  like,  or  at  booths  established  in  the  wake  of  circuses 
and  wandering  bands  of  entertainers.  And,  especially,  the 
songs  learned  and  sung  in  childhood  at  the  schoolhouse  have 
lingered  in  the  memory,  and  have  been  handed  on  in  new  com 
munities.  But  very  often  the  exact  mode  of  diffusion  and  preser 
vation  of  some  popular  song  cannot  now  be  established. 

A  noticeable  feature  of  the  collection  considered  as  a  whole 
is  the  popularity  of  the  short  song  telling  a  story,  the  ballad 
proper,  as  usual  in  folk  poetry.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  song 
presenting  some  striking  narrative  —  in  particular  a  tragic  narra 
tive  —  has  the  best  chance  of  vitality.  Another  noticeable  feature 
is  the  number  of  pieces  in  persistent  currency  which  are  adapt 
ations.2  American  folk-song  as  a  whole  is,  to  a  marked  degree, 
imported  from  the  Old  World.  A  relatively  large  percentage  of 
the  more  persistent  pieces  are  derived  from,  or  come  directly 
from,  Old  World  originals,  English,  Irish,  or  Scottish.  Not  only 
is  this  true  for  the  first  and  second  groups,  for  the  singing  games 
of  group  XXVIII,  and  for  individual  pieces  in  other  divisions, 
but  it  is  also  true  for  many,  as  "The  Dying  Cowboy"  (VII, 
8),  "The  Death  of  Garfield"  (VI,  2),  and  "Jack  Williams" 
(VIII,  5),  which  seem  at  first  glance  to  be  certainly  indigenous. 


account  of  these  is  given  in  Brander  Matthews'  "The  Rise  and 
Fall  of  Negro  Minstrelsy",  Scribner's  Magazine,  June,  1915. 

2  As  "the  Little  Old  Sod  Shanty"  (VII,  4),  "I  Want  to  Be  a  Cowboy" 
(VII,  1),  "The  Texas  Rangers"  (VII,  13). 


8   [92]  NEBRASKA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

Among  the  many  who  have  been  of  assistance  in  securing 
material  may  be  mentioned  especially  Messrs  A.  J.  Leach  of 
Oakdale,  Lowry  C.  Wimberley  of  Omaha,  and  Dr.  H.  C.  House 
of  Peru,  Mrs.  Mary  F.  Lindsey  of  Hebron,  Mrs.  E.  A.  Froyd  of 
Galva,  Illinois,  and  Mrs.  I.  E.  Diehl  of  Mammoth,  Utah,  who  are 
former  Nebraskans,  Misses  Amy  Shellman  of  Palouse,  Washing 
ton,  Lillian  Gear  of  Junction,  Wyoming,  Mabel  Conrad  of 
Stanford,  Montana,  and  Myrtle  G.  Hayden  of  Hobson,  Montana, 
also  former  Nebraskans,  and  Misses  Edna  Fulton  of  Havelock, 
Mary  Crawford  of  Kearney,  Blanche  Pope  of  Red  Cloud,  Elisa 
beth  Wittmann,  Bessie  Aten,  Vivian  Cleaver,  Marian  Gee  of 
Lincoln,  Jeanne  Allen  of  Seneca,  Kansas,  Francis  Withee  of 
Stella,  and  S.  R.  Brown  of  Ansley. 


FOLK-SONG  OF  NEBRASKA  [93]  9 


I.  ENGLISH   AND   SCOTTISH   POPULAR   BALLADS 

This  group  includes  wanderers  from  the  Old  World,  songs 
brought  from  England  or  Scotland  which  have  lived  by  oral 
transmission  on  the  lips  of  pioneers  or  emigrants.  They  may  be 
identified  by  comparison  with  the  Old  World  originals  as  printed 
in  the  Child  collection. 

1.  Barbara   Allen's   Cruelty,    Barbary   Allen,    The   Fate 
of  Barbara  Allen  (Child  84)  tells  the  familiar  story  of  Barbara's 
heartlessness,  Sweet  William's  death  of  a  broken  heart,  and  her 
death  of  remorse. 

'Twas  in  the  merry  month  of  May 

When  the  green  buds  were  a-swelling 
Sweet  William  on  his  death  bed  lay 

For  the  love  of  Barbary  Allen. 

2.  Lord  Lovel,  Lord  Lovel  and  Lady  Nancy  Belle,  Lord 
Lover  (Child  7/J).r  The  hero  of  this  ballad  bids  farewell  to  his 
sweetheart  and  goes  on  a  journey.    He  returns  to  find  her  dead. 

"0  where  are  you  going,  Lord  Lovel?",  she  said, 

"O  where  are  you  going?",  said  she. 
"I'm  going,  my  lady  Nancy  Bell, 

Strange  countries  for  to  see,  see,  see, 
Strange  countries  for  to  see". 

3.  Lord  Bay  ham     (Young  Beichan,  Child  53).     The  hero 
is  rescued  from  his  Turkish  prison  by  his  captor's  daughter. 
She  follows  him  seven  years  later  to  his  own  country,  arrives 
on  the  eve  of  his  wedding  to  another,  and  herself  becomes  his 
bride. 

The  Turks  they  had  one  only  daughter, 

She  was  as  fare  as  fare  could  be; 
She  stole  the  keys  of  her  father's  prison 

And  vowed  Lord  Bayham  she  would  set  free. 

4.  Johnny  Randall    (Lord  Randal,  Child  12)  preserves  the 
conventional  features  of  the  Old  World  ballad,  with  modifica 
tions  adapting  the  story  to  New  World  circumstances. 

"Where  was  you  last  night,  Johnny  Randall,  my  son? 

Where  was  you  last  night,  my  heart's  loving  one?" 
"A-fishing,  a-fowling;  mother,  make  my  bed  soon, 

For  I'm  sick  at  my  heart  and  I  fain  would  lie  down". 


10   [94]  NEBRASKA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

5.  Two  Little  Boys  (The  Two  Brothers,   Child  49).    Two 
little  boys  going  to  school  wrestle,  and  one  of  them  is  fatally 
though  accidentally  wounded  by  a  "little  penknife". 

"Take  off,  take  off  thy  fine  cotton  shirt 

And  tear  it  from  gore  to  gore, 
And  bind  it  around  that  bloody,  bloody  wound 
That  it  may  bleed  no  more." 

6.  The  Gipsy  Laddie     (Black  Jack  Daly,  Child  200)  en 
tices  a  lady  from  her  husband  by  his  singing.    One  stanza  re 
covered. 

The  gipsy  came  tripping  over  the  plain, 

The  gipsy  he  sung  bravely; 
He  sung  till  he  made  the  wild  woods  ring 

To  charm  the  heart  of  a  lady. 

7.  The  House  Carpenter    (The  Demon  Lover,  Child  243). 
A  woman  leaves  her  husband  and  child  to  go  away  with  a  sailor 
who  represents  himself  to  be  her  former  lover. 

They  had  not  been  on  board  three  weeks, 

I'm  sure  it  was  not  four, 
When  this  gallant  ship  she  sprung  a  leak 

And  she  sunk  for  to  rise  no  more. 

8.  Three  Sailor  Boys     (The  Mermaid,  Child  289).     The 
"man  of  the  gallant  ship  "speaks,  then  the  boy,  then  the  girl, 
then  the  cook.    The  ship  sails  round  three  times,  then  sinks  to 
the  bottom. 

For  the  roaring  sea,  they  do  roar,  oh  roar, 

And  the  stormy  winds  they  do  blow, 
And  the  three  per  sailor  boys,  they  were  mounted  up  aloft, 

While  the  love  land  was  lying  down  below,  down  below, 
While  the  love  land  was  lying  down  below. 

9.  The  Three  Babes     (The  Wife  of  Usher's  Well,  Child 
79).    A  mother's  three  babes  return  at  Christmas  time.     She 
spreads  a  table  and  bids  them  to  eat  and  drink.    They  refuse, 
"For  yonder  stands  our  blessed  Lord".    She  made  them  a  bed, 
but  the  eldest  says,  "I  would  not  stay  in  this  wicked  world". 

A  tombstone  at  our  head,  mother, 

The  cold  clay  at  our  feet, 
The  tears  we  have  shed  for  you,  mother, 

Have  wet  these  winding  sheets. 

10.  [Every  Grove  is  Merry  in  Time]1     (The  Elfin  Knight, 
Child  2). — Part  I.    A  young  man  tells  a  maid  how  to  make  a 
shirt.    She  must  buy  a  yard  of  tow  cloth,  sew  it  without  any 
seam,  etc. 

1  Bracketed  titles  are  supplied. 


FOLK-SONG  OF  NEBRASKA  [95]  11 

Tell  this  young  maid 
When  she's  done  all  this, 

Every  grove  that's  merry  in  time, 
To  come  unto  me  and  I'll  give  her  a  kiss, 

And  she  shall  be  a  true  lover  of  mine. 

Part  II.  The  maid  tells  the  young  man  to  buy  an  acre  of 
land, plough  it  with  a  cow's  horn, plant  it  with  peppercorn;  then 
she  gives  directions  how  to  reap,  thresh,  etc. 

Tell  this  young  man  when  he's  finished  his  work, 

Every  grove  that's  merry  in  time, 
To  come  unto  me  and  I'll  give  him  his  shirt, 

And  he  shall  be  a  true  lover  of  mine. 

For  other  American  versions  of  this  piece  see  The  Journal 
of  American  Folk-Lore,  XVIII,  51,  and  XIX,  130. 

11.  Lord   Thomas      (Child   73).     Lord    Thomas    hesitates 
between  Fair  Ellen  and  the  "brown  girl".    He  is  advised  to  wed 
the  latter  since  she  has  "hoi^se  and  land".    Fair  Ellen  goes  to 
the  wedding  and  when  Lord  Thomas  shows  his  preference  for 
her,  is  slain  by  the  "brown  girl".     The  bridegroom  then  kills 
his  bride  and  himself. 

Lord  Thomas  he  was  a  bold  forester, 

The  chaser  of  the  King's  deer, 
Fair  Ellen  she  was  a  sweet  young  lady, 

Lord  Thomas  he  loved  her  dear. 

12.  [There  Was  An  Old  Woman]     (Child  10).      The  eldest 
and  youngest  of  the  old  woman's  daughters  walk  on  the  sea 
shore,  and  the  oldest  pushes  the  youngest  in.    As  the  youngest 
swims  away  she  is  brought  to  the  shore  by  the  miller  with  his 
"big  long  hook ".    He  took  from  her  finger  gold  rings,  and  plunged 
her  back  again. 

The  miller  was  hung  on  his  own  mill  gate,  bow  down, 
The  miller  was  hung  on  his  own  mill  gate,  balance  true  to  me, 
For  robbing  poor  sister  Kate,  saying  I'll  be  true  to  my  love, 
If  my  love  is  true  to  me. 

13.  [Geordie]     (Child  209).     Fragment  corresponding  to  a 
stanza  in  one  version  of  the  Scottish  ballad. 

He  never  stole  on  the  King's  Highway, 

And  he  never  murdered  any; 
But  he  took  sixteen  of  the  King's  horses 

And  sold  them  in  Bohemy. 

14.  See  also  XXVII,  12. 


12   [96]  NEBRASKA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

II.     SONGS  OF  BRITISH  OR  SCOTTISH  ORIGIN 

In  this  group  are  included  some  miscellaneous  pieces  certainly, 
or  apparently,  of  British  or  Scottish  origin. 

1.  The  Farmer's  Boy.     A  poor  boy  comes  to  a  farmer's 
door.    His  father  is  dead  and  his  mother  is  left  with  five  small 
children.    The  farmer  takes  the  lad,  who  in  the  course  of  time 
marries  the  farmer's  daughter  and  inherits  the  farm. 

"Pray  tell  to  me  if  any  there  be  to  give  to  me  employ, 
To  plow,  to  sow,  to  reap  and  mow,  and  to  be  a  farmer's  boy." 

Reported  as  "brought  from  Newcastle,  England,  as  early  as 
1870".  The  same  source  was  reported  for  the  three  following 
pieces. 

2.  [In  Former  Times].  In  former  times  sons  were  taught  to 
plow  and  sow;  now  they  follow  the  hounds.    In  former  times  the 
farmer's  daughters  learned  to  card  and  spin;    now  they  go  to 
boarding  school,  etc. 

With  their  lofty  heads  and  paltry  pride  I'm  sure  it's 

all  the  go 
To  distress  poor  working  men  and  keep  their  wages  low. 

3.  The  Aged  Man.    An  aged  man  meets  a  young  man  plow 
ing  and  says  he  has  a  horse  no  one  can  tame.    The  young  man 
tames  the  horse  next  day.    Then  the  old  man  says  that  he  has 
a  daughter  who  is  stubborn  and  wild.     The  young  man  goes 
courting,  marries  the  daughter,  and  locks  her  up  and  starves  her 
until  she  is  willing  to  work. 

An  aged  man  rode  out  one  day 

And  plenty  he  did  know; 
He  saw  a  young  man  ploughing 
And  horses  he  had  two. 

4.  [But  Now  It  is  All  Gone  to  Ruin].     A  poor  man  on 
Radnor  Forest  had  a  cot.    He  had  sheep  in  a  forest,  a  cow,  a  hen 
and  pigs,  and  there  was  work  for  all.    Things  are  not  now  as  in 
the  reign  of  Queen  Anne,  for  "now  it  is  all  gone  to  ruin". 

Old  England!    why  what  are  you  doing? 
Old  England!    awake  from  your  sleep! 
Old  England!    why  what  are  you  doing? 

5.  [Toppin  and  the  Lawyer],     The  lawyer  and  a  stranger 
were  riding  together.    The  stranger  asked  the  lawyer  if  he  were 
not  afraid  of  Toppin  (Turpin)  the  highwayman.     The  lawyer 
said  no,  for  he  had  his  money  concealed  in  his  cape  cloth. 

They  rode  till  they  came  to  the  bottom  of  the  hill, 
When  Toppin  told  the  lawyer  to  stand  still, 


FOLK-SONG  OF  NEBRASKA  [97]  13 

Saying  "Your  cape  cloth  it  must  come  off, 
For  my  old  horse  needs  a  new  saddle  cloth". 

And  it's  oro  Toppinero,  I'm  your  valiant  Toppin  do. 

Compare  the  "Cobbler  Song",  XXVI,  1. 

6.  Guy  Fawkes.     This  song  was  reported  as  popular  about 
forty  years  ago.     It  was  brought  to  Nebraska  by  immigrant 
families  from  South  Carolina,  about  1872. 

I'll  tell  you  a  doleful  tragedy, 

Guy  Fawkes,  the  prince  of  sinisters, 
Who  once  blew  up  the  House  of  Lords, 

The  King  and  all  his  ministers. 
Chorus:     Singing  bow,  wow,  wow, 
Whack  fol-de-riddle, 
Singing  bow  wow  wow. 

A  text  is  published  in  The  Universal  Songster,  vol.  3,  p.  218. 
London  1827. 

7.  The  Rich  Merchant  of  London.     See  V.  2,  4. 

8.  Father   Grumble.      Father   and   Mother   Grumble   ex 
change  tasks  for  the  day,  and  the  former  comes  to  grief. 

Father  Grumble  he  did  say 
As  sure  as  the  moss  round  a  tree 
That  he  could  do  more  work  in  a  day 
Than  his  wife  could  do  in  three,  three, 
That  he  could  do  more  work  in  a  day 
Than  his  wife  could  do  in  three. 

For  the  pedigree  of  this  piece  see  The  Journal  of  American 
Folk-Lore  XXVI,  364-365. 

9.  The  Old  Crow.     An  old  man  calls  for  his  dog  and  his 
gun  to  shoot  down  an  old  crow  sitting  on  an  oak.    He  fired  off 
his  gun.    The  crow  flew  away,  the  dog  was  scared  and  ran,  and 
the  crow  cried  caw. 

There  was  an  old  crow  a-sitting  on  an  oak, 
Sun  shines  merrily,  merrily  away, 

There  was  an  old  crow  a-sitting  on  an  oak, 
He  spied  a  tailor  cutting  out  a  cloak, 
To  mario,  the  solemn  old  crow  cried  caw. 

10.  Counting  Your  Chickens  Before  They  Are  Hatched. 

All  over  the  world  people  "count  their  chickens  before  they  are 
hatched"; — as  Muggins  the  banker,  young  Charles  Augustus  in 
love  with  a  girl,  a  young  girl  who  thought  her  beauty  her  fortune. 

You'll  find  them  in  places  all  over  the  world, 
Counting  their  chickens  before  they  are  hatched. 


14   [98]  NEBRASKA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

Compare  with  this  modern  song  an  eighteenth  century  piece 
entitled  "The  Young  Man  and  Maiden's  Forecast;  Showing 
How  They  Reckoned  on  Their  Chickens  Before  They  Were 
Hatched",  a  text  of  which  is  printed  in  Ashton's  A  Century  of 
Ballads,  p.  326.  London,  1887.  The  American  and  the  eighteenth 
century  song  are  written  in  the  same  measure  and  have  the  same 
refrain. 

11.  The  Death  of  a  Romish  Lady  tells  the  story  of  a  lady 
who  became  a  convert  to  Protestantism,  possessed  a  Bible,  and 
would  not  "bow  to  idols".    For  this  her  cruel  mother  had  her 
brought  before  priests  and  burned. 

There  lived  a  Romish  lady 

Brought  up  in  proper  array, 
Her  mother  ofttimes  told  her 

She  must  the  priest  obey. 

12.  I'll  Hang  My  Harp  on  a  Willow  Tree.     The  singer's 
lady  has  proved  inconstant  and  is  soon  to  be  the  bride  of  another. 
He  goes  to  fight  the  Saracens  in  Palestine. 

"I'll  hang  my  harp  on  a  willow  tree, 

I'll  off  to  the  wars  again, 
My  peaceful  home  has  no  charms  for  me, 
The  battle  field  no  pain." 

13.  Old  Rosin  the  Bow.     Retrospect  of  the  speaker  as  his 
death  is  approaching. 

"I've  travelled  the  wide  world  over, 

And  now  to  another  I'll  go; 
I  know  that  good  quarters  are  waiting 
To  welcome  Old  Rosin  the  Bow." 

This  song  might  also  be  included  under  VI. 

14.  Babes  in  the  Woods.     Two  babes  are  stolen,  become 
lost  in  the  woods,  and  die.    Robins  cover  them  with  leaves. 

Poor  little  babes  in  the  woods, 
Poor  little  babes  in  the  woods, 
0  who  will  come  and  find 
Poor  little  babes  in  the  woods. 

15.  The  Soldier.     A  soldier  wooes  a  lady  with  a  fortune. 
When  eloping  they  are  met  by  the  father  and  armed  men.    The 
soldier  draws  his  weapon  while  the  lady  holds  the  horses. 

The  first  one  he  came  to,  he  run  him  through  the  brain, 
The  next  one  he  came  to,  he  served  him  just  the  same. 
"Hold  on",  said  the  old  man,  "Don't  strike  so  bold, 
And  you  can  have  my  daughter  and  ten  thousand  pounds 
of  gold." 

See  The  Journal  of  American  Folk-Lore,  XXIII,  447. 


FOLK-SONG  OF  NEBRASKA  [99]  15 

16.  Let's  Go  to  the  Woods,      (Robin,   Bobbin,   Richard, 
and  John,  or  the  Wren  Shooting).    For  this  song  see  the  account 
of  the  St.  Stephen's  day  customs  in  English  Folk  Rhymes  by  G. 
F.  Northall,  1892.    It  was  printed  as  a  nursery  song  in  Gammer 
Gurton's  Garland,  1783. 

Shoot  at  the  ren,  says  Richard  to  Robin, 
Shoot  at  the  ren,  says  Robin  to  Bobin, 
Then  shoot  at  my  ren,  says  Johnny  alone, 
Then  shoot  at  my  ren  says  everyone. 

17.  Billy  Boy.     See  XIII,  1. 

18.  The  Quaker's  Courtship,  XIII,  9. 

19.  Jack  Williams,  VIII,  5. 

See  also  IV  and  V,  and  many  pieces  in  later  groups. 


III.     IRISH  OR  PSEUDO-IRISH  BALLADS  AND  SONGS 

The  songs  of  this  group  are  importations  from  Ireland,  or 
they  purport  to  deal  with  Irish  characters. 

1.  William   Reilly,  or  The  Coolen    Bawn,  originated  in 
County  Ulster  in  Ireland.    It  tells  of  a  young  Irish  farmer  who 
eloped  with  the  daughter  of  his  wealthy  master,  was  caught, 
imprisoned  on  the  charge  of  theft,  but  finally  escaped  with  his 
Coolen  Bawn. 

Her  father  full  of  anger  most  scornfully  did  frown, 

Saying,  "There  are  your  wages,  now,  sir,  depart  from  this  town." 

Increasing  still  his  anger,  he  bade  me  quick  begone, — 

"For  none  but  a  rich  squire  shall  wed  my  Coolen  Bawn." 

A  text  of  this  piece  is  printed  in  P.  W.  Joyce's  Old  Irish  Folk 
Music  and  Songs,  p.  420,  London,  1909. 

2.  Sham  us  O'Brien  tells  the  regrets  of  a  girl  for  her  lover 
absent  at  sea,  and  recalls  his  promises. 

O  Shamus  O'Brien,  why  don't  you  come  home! 

You  don't  know  how  happy  I'll  be; 
I've  one  darling  wish,  and  that  is  that  you'll  come, 

And  forever  be  happy  with  me. 

This  song  is  by  Will  S.  Hays. 

3.  Belle  Mahone.    Love  song  of  the  drawing-room  or  music 
hall  type. 

Soon  beyond  the  harbor  bar 
Shall  my  bark  be  sailing  far; 
O'er  this  world  I  wander  lone, 
Sweet  Belle  Mahone. 


16   [100]  NEBRASKA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

4.  There's  Many  a  Shlip.    Irish  dialect  song.  The  speaker 
complains  of  having  expected  to  wed  Miss  Kitty  McKay,  but 
she  said  "nay",  and  "off  with  Mike  Rooney  she  went". 

Oh!    There's  many  a  shlip,  a  shlip,  a  shlip, 
There's  many  a  shiip,  so  they  say, 
There's  many  a  shlip  'twixt  the  cup  and  the  lip, 
There's  many  a  shlip,  so  they  say. 

5.  Nora  O'Neal,     (I  Am  Lonely  Tonight,  Love).     A  man 
longs  for  his  sweetheart,  and  asks  her  to  meet  him  at  the  foot  of 

the  lane. 

Oh,  don't  think,  love,  that  ever  I'll  doubt  you, 

My  love  I  will  never  conceal, 
For  I'm  lonely  tonight,  love,  without  you, 

My  darling  sweet  Nora  O'Neal. 

This  song  is  by  Will  S.  Hays. 

6.  Barney    McCoy.      Dialogue    between    Barney    McCoy, 
leaving  for  the  "land  of  the  free",  and  Norah,  who  remains 
behind. 

I  am  going  far  away,  Norah  darling, 
And  the  ship  is  now  anchored  in  the  bay. 


IV.  SONGS  OF  LOVERS  REUNITED 

The  songs  of  this  group,  like  those  of  Group  II,  are  of  British 
origin.  They  deal  with  the  reunion  of  lovers  who  though  parted 
have  remained  constant. 

1.  The  Rich  Young  Farmer  is  sent  away  by  his  true  love's 
parents.     He  returns  in  disguise,  finds  her  mourning  for  him, 
and  they  are  happily  reunited. 

There  was  a  rich  young  farmer 

And  he  was  of  high  renown; 
He  courted  a  fair  and  handsome  daughter 

As  ever  lived  in  England  town. 

2.  The  Lover's  Return,   (The  Banks  of  Cloudy).     A  girl 
asks  the  way  to  Cloudy  where  she  goes  to  seek  a  young  man 
named  John.    It  is  John  whom  she  questions,  but  he  conceals 
his  identity  till  the  last  stanza. 

When  he  beheld  her  royalty  he  could  no  longer  stand; 

He  flew  into  her  arms  crying,  "Betsy,  I  am  the  man. 

I  am  your  royal  true  love,  the  cause  of  all  your  pain, 

And  since  we  have  met  on  Cloudy 's  banks,  we  never  shall  part  again." 

For  the  complete  text  of  this  piece,  see  The  Journal  of  American 
Folk-Lore,  XXVI,  362-363. 


FOLK-SONG  OF  NEBRASKA  [101]  17 

3.  The  Prentice  Boy,  (Cupid's  Garden)  tells  of  a  young 
man,  banished  by  his  true  love's  father,  who  wins  a  fortune  of 
20,000  pounds  in  a  lottery.  He  returns  to  England,  finds  her 
waiting,  and  they  are  married. 

As  low  in  Cupid's  garden' for  pleasure  I  did  walk, 

I  heard  two  loyal  lovers  most  sweetly  for  to  talk; 

It  was  a  brisk  young  lady  and  her  prentice  boy, 

And  in  private  they  were  courting,  and  he  was  all  her  joy. 

Printed  as  a  "peasant  ballad"  in  R.  Brimley  Johnson's 
Popular  British  Ballads,  II,  246,  1894. 


V.  SONGS  OF  THE  TRAGIC  DEATH  OF  THE  TRUE 
LOVE,  OR  LOVERS 

The  songs  of  this  group  deal  with  the  death  of  a  girl,  or  her 
lover,  or  of  both. 

1.      THE  MURDEROUS  LOVER. 

1.  The    Weeping    Willow,    Poor    Lurella,    Poor    Floella, 
Poor  Lora,  The  Jealous  Lover.    Down  in  the  valley,  under  the 
weeping  willow,  lies  Lurella,  in  her  "cold  and  silent  grave". 
She  died  not  from  sickness  or  a  broken  heart,  but  was  killed  by 
her  lover,  who  says  that  her  parents  will  forgive  him,  since  he 
expects  to  leave  the  country  "never  more  for  to  return". 

Down  on  her  knees  before  him 

She  pleaded  for  her  life, 
But  deep  into  her  bosom, 

He  plunged  the  fatal  knife. 

2.  On  the  Banks  of  the  Old  P.  D.,  The  Old  Shawnee. 

A  youth  asks  his  sweetheart  to  take  a  walk,  and  talks  of  the  day 
when  their  wedding  is  to  be.    She  says  she  will  never  be  his. 

From  my  breast  I  drew  a  knife, 

And  she  gave  a  shrilling  cry, 
"O  Willie  dear,  don't  murder  me, 

For  I  am  not  prepared  to  die." 

Then  I  took  her  lily  white  hands 

And  swung  her  around  and  again  around, 

Until  she  fell  in  the  waters  cruel, 

And  there  I  watched  my  true  love  drown. 

2.     DEATH  BY  SUICIDE. 

1.  The  Silver  Dagger.  A  young  man  courted  a  maiden, 
but  his  parents  wished  to  part  them  on  the  ground  of  her  poverty. 
When  the  girl  learned  this,  she  wandered  down  by  a  river  and 


18   [102]  NEBRASKA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

stabbed  herself  with  a  silver  dagger.    Her  lover  heard  her  voice, 
rushed  to  her,  found  her  dying,  and  killed  himself  with  the  same 

dagger. 

Come  all  young  men,  please  lend  attention, 

To  these  few  words  I'm  going  to  write; 
They  are  as  true  as  ever  were  written 
Concerning  a  lady  fair  and  bright. 

2.  The  Butcher  Boy.    In  Jersey  City  a  girl  loves  a  butcher's 
boy,  but  he  deserts  her  "because  she  has  more  gold  than  I". 
Later  it  is  discovered  that  she  has  hanged  herself,  leaving  lines 
pinned  on  her  breast. 

Go  dig  my  grave  both  wide  and  deep, 
Place  a  marble  stone  at  my  head  and  feet, 
Upon  my  breast  a  turtle  dove, 
To  show  the  world  I  died  for  love. 

This  is  a  somewhat  stock  stanza  in  older  songs.     See  XII,  3. 

3.  Lovely  Caroline  of  Edinboro  Town.     Lovely  Caroline 
weds  young  Henry.    They  go  to  London,  he  deserts  her,  and  she 
drowns  herself. 

Come  all  young  men  and  maidens, 

Attend  unto  my  rhyme, 
'Tis  of  a  lovely  maiden 

Who  was  scarcely  in  her  prime. 

4.  The  Rich  Merchant  of  London.     Two  stanzas  telling 
of  Dinah,  the  daughter  of  a  rich  London  merchant.    In  the  com 
plete  piece  she  drinks  poison,  because  loving  against  her  father's 
wishes,  and  is  found  by  her  lover,  who  dies  also. 

There  was  a  rich  merchant  in  London  did  dwell, 
He  had  but  one  daughter,  a  nice  kinsom  young  girl; 
Her  name  it  was  Dinah,  scarce  sixteen  years  old, 
With  a  very  large  fortune  of  silver  and  gold. 

For  a  text  of  this  piece,  which  was  a  popular  music  hall  song 
and  broadside  piece,  see  "Vilikens  and  his  Dinah",  in  Ash  ton's 
Modern  Street  Ballads,  p.  89.  London,  1888. 

5.  Willie  and  Mary,  The  Drowsy  Sleeper,  (The  Bedroom 
Window).    Willie  urges  Mary  to  ask  her  mother,  then  her  father, 
if  she  may  marry  him.    She  replies  that  she  dares  not,  adding 
that  her  father  has  a  weapon  "to  pierce  the  one  that  I  love  best". 
Willie  kills  himself  with  a  silver  dagger,  and  Mary  uses  the  same 
weapon  on  herself. 

"Oh  who  is  at  my  bedroom  window, 
Who  weeps  and  sighs  so  bitterly?" 

Another  Nebraska  text  has  the  name  Jimmy  instead  of  Willie. 
For  other  American  versions  see  The  Journal  of  American  Folk- 


FOLK-SONG  OF  NEBRASKA  [103]  19 

Lore,  XX,  260-61  (with  annotations  by  G.  L.  Kittredge)  and 
Professor  H.  M.  Belden's  note  in  Archiv  fur  das  Studium  etc.. 
CXIX,  430-431. 

6.  The  Fatal  Wedding.  The  wedding  bells  are  ringing, 
and  a  marriage  is  about  to  take  place.  A  woman  with  a  child 
asks  to  be  admitted,  then  claims  the  bridegroom  as  her  husband. 
The  child  is  found  to  be  dead,  and  the  bridegroom  kills  himself. 

"Just  another  fatal  wedding, 
Just  another  broken  heart." 


3.  DEATH  FROM  OTHER  CAUSES. 

1.  Young  Charlotte  tells  how  Charlotte  was  frozen  to  death 
at  her  lover's  side  when  going  to  a  Christmas  ball. 

"Such  a  dreadful  night  I  never  saw,  my  reins  I  can  scarcely  hold." 
Young  Charlotte  faintly  then  replied: — "I  am  exceedingly  cold." 

For  the  history  of  this  song  see  Phillips  Barry's  article  in  The 
Journal  of  American  Folk-Lore,  XXV,  1912. 

2.  Mary  O'  the  Wild  Moor,   (The  Village  Bride).    Mary 
comes  with  her  child  one  winter's  night  to  her  father's  door. 
He  does  not  hear  her  and  in  the  morning  finds  her  dead,  though 
the  child  is  alive. 

'Twas  on  a  cold  winter's  night 
When  the  wind  blew  across  the  wild  moor, 
That  Mary  came  wandering  home  with  her  child, 
Till  she  came  to  her  dear  father's  door. 

See  Helen  K.  Johnson's  Our  Familiar  Songs,  p.  303,  New 
York,  1904. 

3.  O    Johnny    Dear,    Why    Did    You    Go?      (Springfield 
Mountain).     A  youth  goes  down  to  the  meadow  to  mow,  is 
bitten  by  a  pizen  serpent,  carried  to  his  sweetheart,  and  dies. 

In  Conway  town  there  did  dwell 
A  lovely  youth  I  knew  full  well. 
Ri  tu  nic  a  neari 
Ri  tu  nic  a  neari  na 

See  "Elegy  of  a  Young  Man  Bitten  by  a  Rattlesnake"  in  E.  E. 
Bale's  New  England  History  in  Ballads,  p.  86,  Boston,  1904. 

4.  There  Was  an  Old  Woman  Who  Lived  on  the  Strand, 

(Betsy  Brown).  Her  son  Johnny  loves  Betsy  the  servant.    The 
mother  takes  Betsy  to  the  seaside,  where  she  sells  her  across  to 


20   [104]  NEBRASKA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

"Verginny".  Her  son  dies,  and  the  mother  repents  her  act  too 
late.     Compare  Journal  of  American  Folk-Lore,  XXIX,  130. 

0  son  0  son,  your  love's  in  vain  for  we  sold  betsy  cross  the  main; 

My  son,  my  son,  my  son,  says  she,  your  bringing  scandal  on  you  and  me. 

1  would  rather  see  your  corps  lie  dead  than  to  marry  betsy  a  servant  maid. 

5.  The  Constant  Farmer's  Son.  Mary  is  courted  by 
Willie,  a  farmer's  son.  He  is  killed  by  her  brothers,  who  wish 
her  to  marry  a  lord.  The  brothers  are  punished  with  death,  and 
Mary  dies  of  grief. 

There  was  a  farmer's  daughter  near  Dublin  town  did  dwell, 

So  modest,  fair  and  handsome,  her  parents  loved  her  well; 

She  was  admired  by  lords  and  dukes,  but  all  their  hopes  were  vain, 

There  was  but  one,  a  farmer's  son,  young  Mary's  heart  could  gain. 

VI.     DYING  MESSAGES  AND  CONFESSIONS. 

The  songs  of  this  group  may  be  termed  "death-bed"  pieces. 
They  are  supposed  to  represent  the  speaker's  last  message,  or 
confession,  or  his  meditations. 

1.  The   Dying   Calif ornian,   sometimes  called  The   Dying 
Brother's  Farewell,  gives  the  speech  of  a  dying  man  to  his  brother. 
It  consists  of  messages  to  his  father,  mother,  and  wife.     The 
pattern  of  the  piece  resembles  that  of  Caroline  Norton's  "Bingen 

on  the  Rhine." 

"Lay  up  nearer,  brother,  nearer, 

For  my  limbs  are  growing  cold 
And  thy  presence  seemeth  dearer 

When  thy  arms  around  me  fold; 
I  am  dying,  brother,  dying, 

Soon  you'll  miss  me  in  your  berth, 
For  my  form  will  soon  be  lying 
'Neath  the  ocean's  briny  surf." 

2.  Charles  Guiteau,  (The  Death  of  Garfield).     The  dying 
words  of  the  assassin  of  President  Garfield. 

My  sister  came  to  prison  to  bid  her  last  farewell, 

She  threw  her  arms  about  me  and  weep  most  bitterly; 

She  said,  "  My  dearest  brother,  today  you  must  die, 

For  the  murder  of  James  A.  Garfield  upon  the  scafel  high." 

Probably  an  adaptation  of  "John  T.  Williams" — "  My  name 
it  is  John  T.  Williams,  my  name  I'll  never  deny",  brought  to 
Nebraska  from  Canada,  and  reported  by  the  contributor  as 
antedating  the  assassination  of  Garfield.  Credibility  is  lent  this 
account  by  the  nature  of  other  pieces  from  the  same  contributor. 
For  example  his  version  of  "The  Dying  Cowboy"  (VII,  8) 
makes  clearer  than  do  most  texts  of  this  piece  its  Old  World 
derivation. 


FOLK-SONG  OF  NEBRASKA  [105]  21 

3.  A  Package  of  Old  Letters.    A  woman  tells  her  sister  to 
get  a  package  of  old  letters,  and  to  sit  beside  her. 

In  the  little  rosewood  casket 

That  is  sitting  on  the  stand, 
Is  a  package  of  old  letters, 

Written  by  a  cherished  hand. 

4.  Sing  Me  a  Song  of  the  South.     A  dying  soldier  calls 
for  a  last  song. 

Sing  me  a  song  of  the  Sunny  South, 

One  with  a  sweet  refrain, 
Sing  me  a  song  of  Dixie  Land 

That  I  may  be  happy  again. 

See  Group  X. 

5.  Bring  My  Harp  to  Me  Again.    An  old  man,  feeling  the 
end  of  his  life  near,  calls  for  his  harp. 

Bring  my  harp  to  me  again, 
Let  me  sing  a  gentle  strain, 
Let  me  hear  its  chords  once  more, 
Ere  I  pass  to  yon  bright  shore. 

6.  Go  Tell  Little  Mary  Not  to  Weep.    Message  of  a  husband 
to  his  wife;  his  wish  to  see  again  his  "two  little  babes". 

Go  tell  little  Mary  not  to  weep 

For  the  loss  of  her  dear  husband; 
For  the  Southern  foe  has  laid  him  low 

On  this  cold  ground  to  suffer. 

7.  The  Dying  Nun.    A  nun,  dying  at  midnight,  addresses 
"Sister  Martha",  her  nurse.     She  recalls  her  love  for  Douglas 
and  remembers  home  scenes. 

Sister,  in  your  white  bed  lying, 

Sleeping  in  the  June  moonlight, 

Through  your  dreams  comes  there  no  message, 

Clara  dies  alone  tonight! 

8.  [Come   Brothers  Gather   Round   My   Bed].     A  dying 
man  sends  messages  to  his  father,  mother,  and  a  ring  to  his  old 
sweetheart. 

Farewell  dear  friends  and  happy  home, 
I  ne'er  shall  see  thee  more; 
For  I  must  slumber  here  alone 
On  San  Francisco's  shore. 

This  song  is  much  like  "The  Dying  Calif ornian"  above,  and 
is  possibly  a  variant  of  it;  although  the  words  are  dissimilar. 
Compare  also  "I  Am  Dying",  by  Rev.  William  Lawrie.  See  The 
Speaker's  Garland,  I  and  II. 


22   [106]  NEBRASKA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

9.  The  Dying  Girl's  Message.  She  asks  her  mother  not 
to  chide  her  faithless  lover,  but  to  give  him  her  ring,  as  a  token 
of  forgiveness  and  peace. 

Raise  the  window  higher,  mother, 

Air  can  never  harm  me  now; 
Let  the  breeze  blow  in  upon  me, 

It  will  cool  my  fevered  brow. 

Here  might  be  grouped  also  "Rosin  the  Bow"  (II,  13), 
"The  Lone  Prairie"  (VII,  9),  Ocean  Burial"  (XII,  6),  "The 
Dying  Cowboy,"  (VII,  8),  "Captain  Kidd",  (VIII,  1),  "Young 
McFee",  (VIII,  4),  and  many  pieces  in  X. 


VII.     PIONEER  AND  WESTERN  SONGS 

The  songs  of  this  group  deal  or  purport  to  deal  with  pioneer 
or  western  life.1 

1.  I  Want  to  Be  a  Cowboy.    The  speaker  tells  of  his  day's 
work,  and  how,  when  this  is  done,  he'll  head  for  Cheyenne,  fill 
up  on  whiskey,  and  paint  the  place  red. 

I  WANT  TO  BE  A  COWBOY 

I  want  to  be  a  cowboy  and  with  the  cowboys  stand, 
Big  spurs  upon  my  bootheels  and  a  lasso  in  my  hand; 
My  hat  broad-brimmed  and  belted  upon  my  head  I'd  place, 
And  wear  my  chaperajos  with  elegance  and  grace. 

The  first  bright  beam  of  sunlight  that  paints  the  east  with  red 
Would  call  me  forth  to  breakfast  on  bacon,  beans,  and  bread; 
And  then  upon  my  bronco  so  festive  and  so  bold 
I'd  rope  the  frisky  heifer  and  chase  the  three  year  old. 

And  when  my  work  is  over  to  Cheyenne  then  I'll  head, 

Fill  up  on  beer  and  whisky  and  paint  the  d town  red. 

I'll  gallop  thru  the  front  streets  with  many  a  frightful  yell; 
I'll  rope  the  staid  old  heathen  and  yank  them  all  to  h — 1. 

Adapted  from  "I  Want  to  Be  an  Angel"  (XVIII,  7). 

2.  The  Dreary  Black  Hills.    A  man  gives  up  his  trade  of 
selling  Ayres'  Patent  Pills  and  goes  to  hunt  gold  in  the  Black  Hills. 
He  warns  others  to  stay  away  from  Cheyenne  and  the  Dreary 
Black  Hills. 

THE  DREARY  BLACK  HILLS 

Now  friends  if  you'll  listen  to  a  horrible  tale 

It's  getting  quite  dreary  and  its  getting  quite  stale, 

*At  the  request  of  Mr.  A.  E.  Sheldon,  the  editor,  selected  texts  of  the 
songs  of  this  group  are  given  in  full. 


• 


FOLK-SONG  OF  NEBRASKA  [107]  23 

I  gave  up  my  trade  selling  Ayers'  Patent  Pills 
To  go  and  hunt  gold  in  the  dreary  Black  Hills. 

Chorus: 

Stay  away,  I  say,  stay  away  if  you  can 

Far  from  that  city  they  call  Cheyenne, 

Where  the  blue  waters  roll  and  Comanche  Bill 

Will  take  off  your  scalp,  boys,  in  those  dreary  Black  Hills. 

Now,  friends,  if  you'll  listen  to  a  story  untold 
Don't  go  to  the  Black  Hills  a-digging  for  gold; 
For  the  railroad  speculators  their  pockets  will  fill, 
While  taking  you  a  round  trip  to  the  dreary  Black  Hills. 

I  went  to  the  Black  Hills,  no  gold  could  I  find. 
I  thought  of  the  free  land  I'd  left  far  behind; 
Through  rain,  snow,  and  hail,  boys,  froze  up  to  the  gills, 
They  called  me  the  orphan  of  the  Dreary  Black  Hills. 

The  round  house  at  Cheyenne  is  filled  every  night 

With  loafers  and  beggars  of  every  kind  of  sight; 

On  their  backs  there's  no  clothes,  boys,  in  their  pockets  no  bills. 

And  they'll  take  off  your  scalp  in  those  dreary  Black  Hills. 

Stay  away,  I  say,  stay  away  if  you  can 
Far  from  that  city  they  call  Cheyenne; 
Where  the  blue  waters  roll  and  Comanche  Bill 
Will  take  off  your  scalp  in  those  dreary  Black  Hills. 

3.  [In  the  Summer  of  Sixty].  In  the  summer  of  '60  came 
the  Pike's  Peak  excitement.  The  speaker  buys  a  ranch.  When 
he  reaches  it  he  finds  that  a  miner  has  jumped  his  claim.  He 
purchases  a  revolver  and  goes  to  Denver.  Here  he  tries  a  card 
game,  bets  all  his  money,  and  loses  it. 


IN  THE  SUMMER  OF  SIXTY 

In  the  summer  of  sixty  as  you  very  well  know 
The  excitement  at  Pike's  Peak  was  then  all  the  go; 
Many  went  there  with  fortunes  and  spent  what  they  had 
And  came  back  flat-busted  and  looking  quite  sad. 

'Twas  then  I  heard  farming  was  a  very  fine  branch, 
So  I  spent  most  of  my  money  in  buying  a  ranch, 
And  when  I  got  to  it  with  sorrow  and  shame 
I  found  a  big  miner  had  jumped  my  fine  claim. 

So  I  bought  a  revolver  and  swore  I'd  lay  low 
The  very  next  fellow  that  treated  me  so; 
I  then  went  to  Denver  and  cut  quite  a  dash 
And  took  extra  pains  to  show  off  my  cash. 

With  a  fine  span  of  horses,  my  wife  by  my  side, 
I  drove  through  the  streets  with  my  hat  on  one  side; 
As  we  were  agoin'  past  the  old  "Denver  Hall" 
Sweet  music  came  out  that  did  charm  us  all. 


24   [108]  NEBRASKA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

Says  I,  "Let's  go  in  and  see  what's  the  muss 
For  I  feel  right  now  like  having  a  fuss." 
There  were  tables  strung  over  the  hall, 
Some  was  a-whirling  a  wheel  with  a  ball. 

Some  playin'  cards  and  some  shakin'  dice 
And  lots  of  half  dollars  that  looked  very  nice; 
I  finally  strayed  to  a  table  at  last 
Where  all  the  poor  suckers  did  seem  to  stick  fast. 

And  there  stood  a  man  with  cards  in  his  hand, 
And  these  were  the  words  which  he  did  command, 
"Now,  gents,  the  winning  card  is  the  ace, 
I  guess  you  will  know  it  if  I  show  you  its  face." 

One  corner  turned  down,  it's  plain  to  be  seen, 
I  looked  at  that  fellow  and  thought  he  was  green, 
Yes  I  looked  at  that  feller  and  thought  he  was  green, 
One  corner  turned  down,  'twas  so  plain  to  be  seen. 

So  I  bet  all  my  money  and  lo  and  behold 
'Twas  a  tray-spot  of  clubs  and  he  took  all  my  gold. 
Then  I  went  home  and  crawled  into  bed 
And  the  divil  a  word  to  my  wife  ever  said. 

Twas  early  next  morning  I  felt  for  my  purse 
Biting  my  lips  to  keep  down  a  curse; 
Yes,  'twas  early  next  morning  as  the  sun  did  rise 
You  might  have  seen  with  your  two  blessed  eyes, 

In  an  ox  wagon,  'twas  me  and  my  wife 

Goin'  down  the  Platte  river  for  death  or  for  life. 

4.  The  Little  Old  Sod  Shanty  on  the  Claim.    Song  of  a 
man,  eastern  born,  who  is  holding  down  a  claim. 

THE  LITTLE  OLD  SOD  SHANTY  ON  THE  CLAIM 

I  am  looking  rather  seedy  now, 

While  holding  down  my  claim, 

And  my  victuals  are  not  always  served  the  best; 

And  the  mice  play  slyly  round  me, 

As  I  nestle  down  to  sleep 

In  my  little  old  sod  shanty  in  the  West. 

Chorus : 

The  hinges  are  of  leather,  and  the  windows  have  no  glass 
While  the  board  roof  lets  the  howling  blizzard  in, 
And  I  hear  the  hungry  coyote 
As  he  sneaks  up  through  the  grass 
Around  the  little  old  sod  shanty  on  my  claim. 

Yet  I  rather  like  the  novelty  of  living  in  this  way, 
Though  my  bill  of  fare  is  always  rather  tame, 
But  I'm  as  happy  as  a  clam 
On  this  land  of  Uncle  Sam's, 
In  my  little  old  sod  shanty  on  my  claim. 
Chorus: 


FOLK-SONG  OF  NEBRASKA  [109]  25 

But  when  I  left  my  Eastern  home,  a  bachelor  so  gay, 
To  try  to  win  my  way  to  wealth  and  fame, 
I  little  thought  that  I'd  come  down  to  burning  twisted  hay 
In  my  little  old  sod  shanty  on  my  claim. 

Chorus: 

For  this  song,  which  is  an  adaptation  of  'The  Little  Old  Log 
Cabin  in  the  Lane"  (XXIII,  3),  by  W.  S.  Hays,  1871,  see  Mod 
ern  Language  Notes,  January,  1914. 

5.  Cheyenne  Boys.  Humorous  warning  to  the  girls  not  to 
marry  the  Cheyenne  boys.  The  ways  of  the  latter  are  described. 

CHEYENNE  BOYS 

Come  all  you  pretty  girls  and  listen  to  my  noise, 
I'll  tell  you  not  to  marry  the  Cheyenne  boys, 
For  if  you  do  a  portion  it  will  be; 
Cold  butter  milk  and  Johnnie  cake  is  all  you'll  see, 
Cold  butter  milk  and  Johnnie  cake  is  all  you'll  see. 

They'll  take  you  down  to  a  sandy  hill, 

Take  you  down  contrary  to  your  will; 

Put  you  down  in  some  lonesome  place, 

And  that's  just  the  way  with  the  Cheyenne  race, 

And  that's  just  the  way  with  the  Cheyenne  race. 

When  they  go  to  church  I'll  tell  you  what  they  wear, 

An  old  gray  coat  all  covered  with  hair, 

An  old  gray  coat  all  torn  down, 

A  stove-pipe  hat  more  rim  than  crown, 

A  stove-pipe  hat  more  rim  than  crown. 

When  they  g9  in,  down  they  set, 
Take  out  their  handkerchief  and  wipe  off  the  sweat, 
Look  at  all  the  pretty  girls  and  then  begin  to  laugh, 
And  roll  around  their  eyes  like  a  dying  calf, 
And  roll  around  their  eyes  like  a  dying  calf. 


When  they  go  to  milk  they  milk  in  a  gourd, 
Put  it  in  a  corner,  cover  with  a  board. 


6.  Wyoming  Song.     Hymn  of  praise,  in  literary  style,  of 
Wyoming. 

WYOMING  SONG 

O,  dear  Wyoming,  clear  and  bright, 
Thy  breezes  are  a  treasure; 
They  give  us  health,  they  give  us  wealth 
And  joy,  thy  rocks  and  templed  hills, 
Thy  limpid  streams  and  rushing  rills, 
O,  dear  Wyoming,  clear  and  bright, 
Thy  breezes  are  a  treasure. 


26   [110]  NEBRASKA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

O,  dear  Wyoming,  clear  and  bright, 
Much  gold  comes  from  thy  mountains, 
And  from  thy  valleys  broad  and  light 
Spring  forth  artesian  fountains. 
With  all  thy  fields  of  golden  grain 
And  sheep  and  cattle  in  the  plain, 
O,  dear  Wyoming,  clear  and  bright, 
Thy  breezes  are  a  treasure. 

0,  dear  Wyoming,  clear  and  bright, 
We  love  thy  sunny  weather, 
Thy  people  stand  for  all  that's  right 
In  usefulness  and  pleasure. 
They  always  keep  the  golden  rule 
At  home,  in  college,  and  in  school; 
O,  dear  Wyoming,  clear  and  bright, 
Thy  breezes  are  a  treasure. 

7.  The  Dying  Cowboy.    Description  of  the  death  of  a  young 
cowboy,  with  an  account  of  his  life. 

THE  DYING  COWBOY 

As  I  walked  through  Tom  Sherman's  bar-room, 
Tom  Sherman's  bar-room  on  a  bright  summer's  day, 

There  I  spied  a  handsome  young  cowboy 

All  dressed  in  white  linen  as  though  for  the  grave. 

"I  know  by  your  appearance  you  must  be  a  cowboy," 

These  words  he  said  as  I  came  passing  by, 
"Come  sit  clown  beside  me,  and  hear  my  sad  story, 
I'm  shot  through  the  breast  and  know  I  must  die." 

"Once  in  my  saddle  I  used  to  look  handsome, 

Once  in  my  saddle  I  used  to  feel  gay, 
I  first  went  to  drinking,  then  went  to  gambling, 

Got  into  a  fight  which  ended  my  day. 

"Go  and  tell  my  gray-haired  mother, 

Break  the  news  gently  to  sister  dear, 
But  never  a  word  of  this  place  must  you  mention 

When  a  crowd  gathers  round  you,  my  story  to  hear. 

Chorus: 

Beat  your  drums  lowly,  and  play  your  fifes  slowly, 

Play  the  dead  march  as  you  bear  me  along, 
Take  me  to  the  graveyard  and  lay  the  sod  o'er  me, 

For  I'm  a  dying  cowboy  and  know  I've  done  wrong. 

For  a  history  of  this  piece,  which  is  a  plainsman's  version  of 
the  Old  World  ballad  known  as  "The  Unfortunate  Rake",  see 
P.  Barry,  Journal  of  American  Folk-Lore,  XXIV,  341. 

8.  The  Lone  Prairie,  Bury  Me  Not  on  Prairie  (The  Dying 
Cowboy).    Request  concerning  his  burial  by  a  dying  cowboy. 


FOLK-SONG  OF  NEBRASKA  [111]  27 

BURY   ME   NOT  ON  THE  PRAIRIE 

Oh !  bury  me  not  on  the  lone  prairie. 
Those  words  came  softly  but  mournfully 
From  the  pale  lips  of  a  youth  who  lay 
On  the  cold  damp  ground  at  the  close  of  day. 

He  had  wasted  and  pained  until  over  his  brow 

Death's  shades  were  but  gathering  now. 

He  thought  of  home  and  loved  ones  nigh, 

As  the  cowboys  gathered  round  for  to  see  him  die. 

Oh!  bury  me  not  on  the  lone  prairie, 
Where  the  wild  coyotes  will  howl  o'er  me, 
Where  no  light  breaks  in,  o'er  a  lone  dark  trail, 
And  no  sunbeams  shine  on  a  lone  prairie. 

In  fancy  I  listen  to  the  well  known  words, 
To  the  free  wild  winds  and  songs  of  birds; 
I've  thought  of  home  and  the  cotton  bowers, 
And  the  scenes  we  loved  in  childhood  hours. 

I've  hoped  to  have  been  laid  when  I  died 
In  the  churchyard  there,  neath  the  green  hillside; 
By  the  bones  of  my  father  let  my  grave  be; 
Oh!    bury  me  not  on  the  lone  prairie. 

An  adaptation  of  XII,  6. 

9.  [The  Cowboy's   Meditation].     Fragment,  obviously  an 
adaptation  from  the  popular  religious  song,  "The  Sweet  Bye  and 
Bye". 

One  night  as  I  lay  on  the  prairie 

Counting  the  stars  in  the  sky, 
I  wondered  if  ever  a  cowboy 

Would  enter  that  sweet  bye  and  bye. 

10.  Out  West.    There  is  a  famous  country  of  mighty  rivers, 
of  abundant  gold,  and  of  peace  and  plenty,  but  it  lies  away  off 
in  the  West. 

OUT  WEST 

There's  a  country  famed  in  story, 
As  you've  oftentimes  been  told, 
'Tis  a  land  of  mighty  rivers 
Running  over  sands  of  gold, 
The  abode  of  peace  and  plenty; 
And  with  quietness  'tis  blest, 
But  the  country  that's  so  famous 
Is  away  off  in  the  West. 

Chorus: 

'Tis  away  off  in  the  West 
'Tis  away  off  in  the  West 
Oh!  I  fear  I  ne'er  shall  find  it, 
'Tis  so  far  off  in  the  West. 


28  [112]  NEBRASKA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

Once  a  man  in  Androscoggin, 
Or  in  some  outlandish  place 
With  a  view  to  find  this  country 
To  the  westward  set  his  face. 
He  was  weary  at  Chicago. 
So  he  sat  him  down  to  rest; 
But  'twas  only  there  the  center, 
Not  the  famous  golden  West. 

11.  Dakota  Land.    A  satirical  praise  of  Dakota  as  a  land  of 
heat  and  drouth. 

DAKOTA  LAND 

We've  reached  the  land  of  desert  sweet, 
Where  nothing  grows  for  man  to  eat. 
The  wind  it  blows  with  feverish  heat 
Across  the  plains  so  hard  to  beat. 

Chorus. 

Oh!  Dakota  land,  sweet  Dakota  land, 

As  on  thy  fiery  soil  I  stand, 

I  look  across  the  plains 

And  wonder  why  it  never  rains 

Till  Gabriel  blows  his  trumpet  sound 

And  says  the  rain's  just  gone  around. 

We  have  no  wheat,  we  have  no  oats, 
We  have  no  corn  to  feed  our  shoats, 
Our  chickens  are  so  very  poor 
They  beg  for  crumbs  outside  the  door. 

Our  horses  are  of  broncho  race, 
Starvation  stares  them  in  the  face; 
We  do  not  live;  we  only  stay; 
We  are  too  poor  to  get  away. 

The  model  for  this  piece  is  "Beulah  Land." 

12.  The  Texas  Rangers  tells  of  a  fight  between   Texans 
and  Indians. 

THE  TEXAS  RANGERS 

Come  all  you  Texas  Rangers  wherever  you  may  be, 
I'll  tell  you  of  some  trouble  which  happened  unto  me. 

My  name  'tis  nothing  extra,  the  truth  to  you  I'll  tell, 
Come  all  you  jolly  Rangers,  I'm  sure  I  wish  you  well. 

It  was  the  age  of  sixteen  I  joined  the  royal  band, 
We  marched  from  San  Antonio,  unto  the  Rio  Grande. 

Our  captain  he  informed  us,  perhaps  he  thought  t'was  right, 
Before  we  reached  the  station,  he  was  sure  we  would  have  to  fight. 

It  was  one  morning  early,  our  captain  gave  command, 

"To  arms,  to  arms,"  he  shouted,  "and  by  your  horses  stand." 

We  heard  those  Indians  coming,  we  heard  them  give  their  yell, 
My  feelings  at  that  moment  no  human  tongue  can  tell. 


FOLK-SONG  OF  NEBRASKA  [113]  29 

We  saw  their  smoke  arising,  it  almost  reached  the  sky, 
My  feelings  at  that  moment,  now  is  my  time  to  die. 

We  saw  those  Indian's  coming,  their  arrows  around  us  hailed, 
My  heart  it  sank  within  me,  my  courage  almost  failed. 

We  fought  them  full  nine  hours  until  the  strife  wras  o'er, 
The  like  of  dead  and  wounded,  I  never  saw  before. 

Five  hundred  as  noble  rangers  as  ever  served  the  west, 

We'll  bury  those  noble  Rangers,  sweet  peace  shall  be  their  rest. 

I  thought  of  my  poor  mother,  those  words  she  said  to  me, 
To  you  they  are  all  strangers,  you  had  better  stay  with  me. 

I  thought  she  was  old  and  childish,  perhaps  she  did  not  know, 
My  mind  was  bent  on  roving  and  I  was  bound  to  go. 

Perhaps  you  have  a  mother,  likewise  a  sister  too, 

Perhaps  you  have  a  sweetheart  to  weep  and  mourn  for  you. 

If  this  be  your  condition  I  advise  you  to  never  roam, 
I  advise  you  by  experience  you  had  better  stay  at  home. 

According  to  H.  M.  Belden,  Journal  of  American  Folk-Lore, 
XXV,  14,  this  piece  is  probably  an  echo  of  the  fight  at  the 
Alamo,  March  6,  1835,  and  is  modeled  on  the  British  ballad 
"Nancy  of  Yarmouth." 

13.  [The  Horse- Wrangler].  He  meets  a  cattle  king  and 
decides  to  try  cow-punching. 

THE  HORSE  WRANGLER 

One  day  I  thought  I'd  have  some  fun, 
Arid  see  how  punching  cows  was  done, 
So  when  the  round-up  had  begun, 
I  tackled  a  cattle  king; 
Says  he,  "  My  foreman  is  over  in  town, 
He's  in  the  saloon  and  his  name  is  Brown, 
I  think  perhaps  he'll  take  you  down." 
Says  I,  "That's  just  the  thing." 

We  started  for  the  ranch  next  day, 
Brown  talked  to  me  'most  all  the  way, 
He  said  that  punching  cows  was  great, 
It  was  no  work  at  all, 
I  tell  you,  boys,  he  must  have  lied, 
He  shorely  must  have  had  his  gall. 

He  put  me  in  charge  of  a  calfy  yard, 

And  told  me  not  to  work  too  hard; 

That  all  I'd  have  to  do  was  to  guard 

The  horses  from  getting  away. 

Sometimes  a  horse  would  make  a  break. 

Across  the  prairie  he  would  take 

As  though  he  were  running  for  a  stake, 

I  couldn't  head  him  at  all, 

At  other  times,  my  horse  would  fall, 


30   [114]  NEBRASKA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

And  I'd  shoot  on  like  a  cannon  ball 
Till  the  ground  came  into  my  way. 

They  saddled  me  up  an  old  gray  hack, 
With  a  great  big  set-fast  on  his  back, 
And  padded  him  down  with  a  gunny  sack,  . 
And  took  my  bedding  all, 
When  I  got  on,  he  left  the  ground, 
Went  up  in  the  air  and  turned  around, 
I  busted  the  ground  where  I  came  down, 
It  was  a  terrible  fall. 

They  picked  me  up  and  carried  me  in, 
And  laid  me  down  like  a  rolling  pin, 
"That's  the  way  they  all  begin, 
You're  doing  fine,"  says  Brown, 
"Tomorrow  morning,  if  you  don't  die, 
I'll  give  you  another  horse  to  try," 
"Oh,  won't  you  let  me  walk,"  says  I, 
"Oh,  yes"  says  he,  "To  town." 

I've  traveled  up,  I've  traveled  down, 

I've  traveled  this  wide  world  round  and  round, 

I've  lived  in  the  city,  I've  lived  in  town, 

This  much  I've  got  to  say: 

Before  you  try  it,  go  kiss  your  wife, 

Put  a  heavy  insurance  on  your  life, 

And  shoot  yourself  with  a  butcher  knife, 

For  that's  the  easiest  way. 

14.  Starving  to  Death  on  a  Government  Claim.     The 

speaker  humorously  describes  his  privations,  and  predicts  that 
he  will  travel  back  east,  get  a  wife  in  Missouri,  and  live  on  "corn 
dodgers". 

STARVING   TO   DEATH    ON   A   GOVERNMENT    CLAIM 

Frank  Baker's  my  name,  and  a  bachelor  I  am. 
I'm  keeping  old  batch  ori  an  elegant  plan, 
You'll  find  me  out  west  in  the  county  of  Lane, 
A-starving  to  death  on  a  government  claim. 

My  house  is  constructed  of  natural  soil, 
The  walls  are  erected  according  to  Hoyle, 
The  roof  has  no  pitch,  but  is  level  and  plain, 
And  I  never  get  wet  till  it  happens  to  rain. 

Hurrah  for  Lane  county,  the  land  of  the  free, 
The  home  of  the  grasshopper,  bed-bug  and  flea, 
I'll  holler  its  praises,  and  sing  of  its  fame, 
While  starving  to  death  on  a  government  claim. 

How  happy  I  am  as  I  crawl  into  bed, 

The  rattle-snakes  rattling  a  tune  at  my  head, 

While  the  gay  little  centipede,  so  void  of  all  fear, 

Crawls  over  my  neck,  and  into  my  ear. 

And  the  gay  little  bed-bug  so  cheerful  and  bright, 

He  keeps  me  a-going  two-thirds  of  the  night. 


Moses  P.  Kinkaid,  Congressman  Sixth  Congressional  District,  Nebraska. 
Introducer  of  bill  for  640  acre  homestead,  known  as  Kinkaid  Homestead  Law. 


FOLK-SONG  OF  NEBRASKA  [115]  31 

My  clothes  are  all  ragged,  my  language  is  rough, 
My  bread  is  case-hardened,  both  solid  and  tough, 
The  dough  it  is  scattered  all  over  the  room, 
And  the  floor  would  get  scared  at  the  sight  of  a  broom. 

The  dishes  are  scattered  all  over  the  bed, 
All  covered  with  sorghum,  and  government  bread, 
Still  I  have  a  good  time,  and  I  live  at  my  ease, 
On  common  sop  sorghum,  an'  bacon  an'  cheese. 

How  happy  I  am  on  my  government  claim, 
I've  nothing  to  lose,  I've  nothing  to  gain, 
I've  nothing  to  eat  and  I've  nothing  to  wear, 
And  nothing  from  nothing  is  honest  and  fair. 

Oh,  here  I  am  safe,  so  here  I  will  stay, 
My  money's  all  gone,  and  I  can't  get  away, 
There's  nothing  to  make  a  man  hard  and  profane, 
Like  starving  to  death  on  a  government  claim. 

Now  come  on  to  Lane  county,  there's  room  for  you  all, 
Where  the  wind  never  ceases,  and  the  rains  never  fall, 
Come  join  in  our  chorus  to  sing  for  its  fame, 
You  sinners  that're  stuck  on  your  government  claim. 

Now  hurrah  for  Lane  county,  where  the  blizzards  arise, 
The  wind  never  ceases,  and  the  moon  never  rise, 
Where  the  sun  never  sets,  but  it  always  remains, 
Till  it  burns  us  all  out  on  our  government  claims. 

Now  don't  get  discouraged,  you  poor  hungry  men. 
You're  all  just  as  free  as  the  pig  in  the  pen, 
Just  stick  to  your  homestead,  and  battle  the  fleas, 
And  look  to  your  Maker  to  send  you  a  breeze. 

Hurrah  for  Lane  county,  the  land  of  the  West, 
Where  the  farmers  and  laborers  are  ever  at  rest; 
There's  nothing  to  do  but  to  stick  and  remain, 
And  starve  like  a  dog  on  a  government  claim. 

Now,  all  you  poor  sinners,  I  hope  you  will  stay, 
And  chew  the  hard  rag  till  you're  toothless  and  gray, 
But  as  for  myself,  I'll  no  longer  remain, 
To  starve  like  a  dog  on  a  government  claim. 

Farewell  to  Lane  county,  farewell  to  the  West, 
I'll  travel  back  east  to  the  girl  I  love  best, 
I'll  stop  at  Missouri  and  get  me  a  wife, 
Then  live  on  corn  dodgers,  the  rest  of  my  life. 

15.  The  Kinkaider's  Song.  Homesteaders'  song  popular  in 
the  Nebraska  sandhill  region.  Sung  at  picnics,  reunions,  and 
the  like,  to  the  tune  of  "My  Maryland." 

THE  KINKAIDER'S  SONG 

You  ask  what  place  I  like  the  best, 
The  sand  hills,  oh  the  old  sand  hills; 
The  place  Kinkaiders  make  their  home 
Ai  c  prsiric  chickens  freely  roam. 


32   [116]  NEBRASKA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

Chorus  (for  first  and  second  verses) : 

In  all  Nebraska's  wide  domain 
'Tis  the  place  we  long  to  see  again; 
The  sand  hills  are  the  very  best, 
She  is  queen  of  all  the  rest. 

The  corn  we  raise  is  our  delight, 
The  melons,  too,  are  out  of  sight. 
Potatoes  grown  are  extra  fine 
And  can't  be  beat  in  any  clime. 

The  peaceful  cows  in  pastures  dream 
And  furnish  us  with  golden  cream, 
So  I  shall  keep  my  Kinkaid  home 
And  never  far  away  shall  roam. 

Chorus  (third  verse) : 

Then  let  us  all  with  hearts  sincere 
Thank  him  for  what  has  brought  us  here, 
And  for  the  homestead  law  he  made, 
This  noble  Moses  P.  Kinkaid. 

16.  Joe  Bowers.  This  version  was  obtained  from  Mr.  Francis 
Withee,  of  Stella,  Nebraska,  who  heard  it  sung  many  times  when  a 
freighter  in  1862-65  on  the  Denver-Nebraska  City  Trail.  It 
was  a  freighter's  favorite.  The  song  is  supposed  to  be  sung  by 
a  Missourian  in  California  about  1849-51.  It  was  in  existence  as 
early  as  1854. 

My  name  it  is  Joe  Bowers, 
I've  got  a  brother  Ike; 
I  come  from  Old  Missouri, 
It's  all  the  way  from  Pike. 
I'll  tell  you  how  I  came  here, 
And  how  I  came  to  roam, 
And  leave  my  good  old  mammy, 
So  far  away  from  home. 

There  was  a  gal  in  our  town, 
Her  name  was  Sally  Black; 
I  asked  her  for  to  marry  me, 
She  said  it  was  a  whack. 
Says  she  to  me,  "Joe  Bowers, 
Before  we  hitch  for  life 
You  ought  to  have  a  little  home 
To  keep  your  little  wife." 

Says  I  to  her,  "Dear  Sally! 
All  for  your  own  dear  sake, 
I'm  off  to  California 
To  try  to  raise  a  stake." 
Says  she  to  me,  "Joe  Bowers, 
You  are  the  man  to  win, 
Here's  a  kiss  to  bind  the  bargain," 
And  she  threw  a  dozen  in. 


FOLK-SONG  OF  NEBRASKA  [117]  33 

When  I  got  to  this  country 

I  hadn't  nary  red. 

I  had  such  wolfish  feelings, 

I  almost  wished  I 'as  dead. 

But  when  I  thought  of  Sally 

It  made  those  feelings  git, 

And  raised  the  hopes  of  Bowers — 

I  wish  I  had  'em  yet. 

And  so  I  went  to  mining, 
Put  in  my  biggest  licks; 
Come  down  upon  the  boulders 
Like  a  thousand  of  bricks. 
I  labored  late  and  early, 
In  rain  an'  sun  an'  snow, 
I  was  working  for  my  Sally — 
'Twas  all  the  same  to  Joe. 

One  day  I  got  a  letter, 
'Twas  from  my  brother  Ike; 
It  came  from  Old  Missouri, 
And  all  the  way  from  Pike. 
It  was  the  darndest  letter 
That  ever  I  did  see, 
And  brought  the  darndest  news 
That  was  ever  brought  to  me. 

It  said  that  Sal  was  false  to  me — 

It  made  me  cuss  and  swear — 

How  she'd  went  and  married  a  butcher, 

And  the  butcher  had  red  hair; 

And,  whether  'twras  gal  or  boy 

The  letter  never  said, 

But  that  Sally  had  a  baby, 

And  the  baby's  head  was  red! 

Here  might  be  grouped  also  "Jesse  James"  (VIII,  2),  "The 
Dying  Californian"  (VI,  1),  "Come,  Brothers,  Gather  Round  My 
Bed"  (VI,  8),  "Seven  Long  Years  in  a  Prison  Cell"  (VIII,  6). 

VIII.     SONGS  OF  CRIMINALS  AND  OUTLAWS. 

The  songs  of  this  group  have  for  their  protagonists  criminals 
or  outlaws. 

1.  Captain  Kidd  tells  of  his  good  bringing  up,  his  cursing 
of  his  parents,  his  murder  of  William  Moore,  etc. 

Oh  my  name  is  Captain  Kidd,  as  I  sailed,  as  I  sailed, 
Oh  my  name  is  Captain  Kidd,  as  I  sailed, 
Oh  my  name  is  Captain  Kidd,  and  most  wickedly  I  did, 
For  my  name  is  Captain  Kidd,  as  I  sailed. 

See  "William  Kidd"  in  E.  E.  Kale's  New  England  History  in 
Ballads,  p.  37.  Boston,  1904. 


34   [118]  NEBRASKA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

2.  Jesse  James.    Song  telling  of  the  death,  through  betrayal, 
of  Jesse  James.    He  was  killed  by  Robert  Ford. 

Now  Jesse  had  a  wife  to  mourn  for  his  life, 
His  children  they  were  brave, 

'Twas  a  dirty  little  coward 

That  shot  Mr.  Howard, 
That  laid  Jesse  James  in  his  grave. 

See  XI.    Also  "Song  Ballets  and  Devil's  Ditties"  by  W.  A. 
Bradley,  Harper's  Magazine,  May  1915. 

3.  Charlie's   Town,   The  Boston   Burglar.     The  speaker 
says  he  was  brought  up  by  honest  parents,  but  his  "character 
was  taken"  and  he  could  not  be  cleared.    He  was  sent  as  the 
"Boston  Burglar"  to  Charlie's  town. 

And  every  station  I  would  pass, 
I'd  hear  the  people  say, 
There  goes  a  Boston  burgular, 
See,  he's  all  bound  in  iron. 

4.  Young  McFee.    He  murders  his  wife  with  her  babe  by 
giving  her  poison  and  then  strangling  her,  because  he  had  fallen 
in  love  with  Hattie  Stout. 

Come  all  my  friends  and  listen  to  me 
While  I  relate  a  sad  and  mournful  history. 
On  this  day  I'll  tell  to  thee 
The  story  of  Young  McFee. 

5.  Jack  Williams  is  a  boatman  by  trade.    For  the  sake  of  a 
girl  he  took  to  robbing,  and  was  brought  to  Sing  Sing  (Newgate). 

On  Bowery  (Chatton)  street  I  did  reside, 
Where  the  people  did  me  know, 
I  fell  in  love  with  a  pretty  girl, 
She  proved  my  overthrow. 

See  Group  II. 

6.  Seven  Long  Years  in  a  Prison  Cell.     Fragment.     The 
narrator,  in  a  Kansas  City  prison  cell,  is  serving  time  for  "knock 
ing  down  a  man  in  Salida"  and  taking  his  greenbacks. 

Seven  long  years  in  a  prison  cell, 

Seven  long  years  to  stay; 
For  knocking  down  a  man  in  Salida,  boys, 

And  taking  all  his  greenbacks  away. 

7.  Toppin  (Turpin)  and  the  Lawyer.    See  II,  5. 

8.  Charles  Guiteau.     See  VI,  2. 


FOLK-SONG  OF  NEBRASKA  [119]   35 

IX.     ELEGIES  AND  COMPLAINTS 

The  songs  of  this  group  include  laments  for  the  dead,  as  of 
parents  for  children,  or  of  children  for  a  parent,  or  of  a  lover 
for  his  sweetheart;  also  miscellaneous  complaints,  as  of  the  re 
marriage  of  a  father,  or  the  sorrow  of  a  father  at  the  indifference 
of  his  children;  or  sorrow  for  the  loss  of  an  old  home. 

1.     LAMENTS  FOR  DEAD  CHILDREN 

1.  Little  Nell.    A  man's  memories  of  his  boyhood  days  and 
his  love  for  little  Nell.     One  day  his  boat,  to  which  she  had 
wandered,  was  afloat  with  the  tide;   and  the  next  day  her  form 
washed  up  from  the  beach. 

Toll,  toll,  the  bell  from  morn  till  close  of  day 

For  bright-eyed  laughing  Little  Nell  of  Naragansett  Bay. 

See  also  Group  XII. 

2.  Tilly.    Lament  of  a  man  for  a  child,  whose  mother,  Jen 
nie,  died  earlier. 

Weep,  zephyrs,  weep,  in  the  midnight  deep, 
Where  the  cypress  and  the  pine  sadly  wave. 
I  have  taken  down  my  banjo,  for  I  could  not  sleep, 
And  I'm  singing  over  my  little  Tilly's  grave. 

3.  Little  Willie  Went  to  Heaven.    Little  Willie  died  in  his 
papa's  arms.    His  wagon,  his  little  hat  and  penknife,  his  chair, 
are  recalled,  and  his  little  sister  plants  a  flower  on  his  tomb. 

Little  Willie  went  to  Heaven 
One  bright  and  starry  night, 
In  his  papa's  arms  he  rested 
When  his  spirit  took  its  flight. 

4.  The  Golden  Stair.    Fragment. 

Put  away  the  little  dresses  that  the  darling  used  to  wear, 

She  will  need  them  on  earth  never,  she  has  climbed  the  golden  stair. 

5.  Jessie  Green.  The  child,  Jessie,  sang  the  sweetest  notes 
the  speaker  ever  heard. 

We  laid  her  in  the  churchyard, 

And  sadly  from  the  scene, 
We  turned  our  footsteps  homeward 

And  left  poor  Jessie  Green. 

2.     REGRETS  OF  AN  ORPHAN  FOR  A  PARENT 
1.  Why   Did   They   Dig   Ma's   Grave   so    Deep?      "Poor 

Little  Nellie"  weeps  for  her  dead  mother. 

Why  did  they  dig  ma's  grave  so  deep? 
Why  did  they  lay  her  away  to  sleep, 
Leaving  me  here  alone  to  weep? 
Why  did  they  dig  ma's  grave  so  deep? 


36   [120]  NEBRASKA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

2.  The  Soldier's  Daughter.    Little  Minnie,  whose  mother  is 
dead,  kisses  her  father  goodbye. 

I  shall  have  no  one  to  love  me, 
I  shall  have  no  place  to  pray, 
I  shall  have  no  one  to  love  me, 
When  my  father  goes  away. 

3.  Since  My  Mother's  Dead  and  Gone. 

In  the  dear  old  village  churchyard 

Oft  I  stray  with  heart  forlorn, 
For  there's  no  one  left  to  love  me 

Since  my  mother's  dead  and  gone. 

4.  Little  Barefoot.    She  has  lost  her  father,  and  one  winter 
day  dies  herself. 

Mr.,  please  give  me  one  penny, 

For  I've  not  got  any  paw, 
Please,  sir,  give  me  just  one  penny, 

For  to  buy  some  bread  for  maw. 

5.  The   Orphan's   Lament.     Her  father  died,   then  her 
mother,  then  her  sister. 

I  am  standing  by  your  grave  ,mother, 

The  winds  are  sobbing  wild, 
And  the  winter  stars  look  dimly  down 

Upon  your  orphan  child. 

6.  Poor  Little  Joe.    Fragment. 

Cold  blew  the  blast  and  down  came  the  snow, 
With  no  place  to  shelter  him,  nowhere  to  go, 
No  mother  to  guide  him,  in  her  grave  she  lay  low, 
Died  on  the  cold  streets,  it  was  poor  little  Joe. 

7.  The  Drunkard's  Lone  Child.     See  XIX,  2. 

8.  [The  Beggar  Girl].     See  XIX,  3. 

3.     THE  LOST  SWEETHEART 

1.  Falling  Leaves.     Song  of  an  Indian  girl  named  Falling 
Leaves  and  her  warrior  lover.  Her  grave  is  at  Laramie,  Wyoming. 

Falling  leaves  the  breezes  whisper, 

Spirits  of  its  early  flight; 
But  within  the  lonely  wigwam 

There  is  a  wail  of  woe  tonight. 

See  Group^XXIV. 


FOLK-SONG  OF  NEBRASKA  [121]  37 

2.  Only  a  Lock  of  Her  Hair.    A  man  has  treasured  a  lock 
of  his  sweetheart's  hair,  and  some  flowers  now  faded  and  dead. 

Still  in  my  dreams  she  appears 
Loving  and  beautiful  there, 
Mine  after  wondering  long  years, 
Only  a  lock  of  her  hair. 

3.  Let  the  Dead  and  the  Beautiful  Rest.     Song  of  the 
death  and  burial  of  a  beautiful  maiden. 

O  so  young  and  so  fair, 

With  her  bright  golden  hair, 

Let  her  sleep,  let  her  sleep. 

Let  her  sleep  'neath  the  willow  by  the  spring. 

4.  Down  by  the  Brook.    Theme  indicated  in  stanza — 

Down  by  the  brook  at  the  end  of  the  lane 
There  side  by  side  we  shall  ne'er  stray  again; 
There  on  the  banks  'neath  the  spreading  oak's  shade 
My  own  darling  Jennie  they've  laid. 

5.  Daisy  Dean.     Regrets  of  a  lover  for  the  death  of  his 
early  sweetheart. 

O  down  in  the  meadow  I  still  love  to  wander 
Where  the  young  grass  grew  so  fresh  and  green; 
But  the  bright  golden  vision  of  springtime  now  faded 
With  the  flowers  and  my  darling  Daisy  Dean. 

6.  Listen  to  the  Mocking  Bird.     Theme  indicated  in  the 
opening  stanza. 

I  am  dreaming  now  of  Hallie, 
For  the  thought  of  her  is  one  that  never  dies. 

She's  sleeping  in  the  valley 
And  the  mocking  bird  is  singing  where  she  lies. 

By  Alice  Hawthorne,  1855. 

7.  The  Old  Elm  Tree.   Memories  of  older  scenes,  and  regrets. 

0  Laura,  dear  Laura,  my  heart's  first  love, 
May  we  meet  in  the  angels'  home  above, 
Earth  hath  no  treasure  so  dear  to  me 
As  thy  lone  grave  'neath  the  old  elm  tree. 

This  song  is  by  F.  N.  Crouch.    See  also  XIV. 

8.  Belle  Brandon.     Song  of  the  same  type  as  the  preceding. 

Death  has  wed  the  little  beauty,  Belle  Brandon, 
And  she  sleeps  'neath  the  old  arbor  tree. 

Other  songs  for  dead  or  for  lost  sweethearts  which  might  be 

Iuped  here  are  "A  Song  for  the  Girl  I  Love"  (XIV,  4), " Florence 
"  (XIV,  5),  "After  the  Ball"  (XVII,  6),  "Little  Nell" 


38   [122]  NEBRASKA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

(IX,  1,  1),  "Sailor's  Trade"  (XII,  3),  "Lorena"  (XIV,  11), 
"Pretty  Maumee"  (XXIV,  5),  and  possibly  the  (humorous) 
"Rosie  Nell",  or  "Swinging  in  the  Lane"  (XV,  8),  and  'Til 
Hang  My  Harp",  (II,  12).  See  also  groups  V,  and  XIV. 


4.     MISCELLANEOUS  LAMENTS  AND  COMPLAINTS 

1.  Old  Grimes.    Memories  of  Old  Grimes,  his  characteristics 
and  eccentricities. 

Old  Grimes  is  dead,  that  good  old  man, 
We  ne'er  shall  see  him  more; 
He  wore  a  single-breasted  coat 
That  buttoned  down  before. 

A  text  of  this  piece  is  printed  in  the  Bryant  Library  of  Poetry 
and  Song,  p.  970,  and  in  the  Franklin  Square  Song  Collection, 
New  York  1884.  It  is  by  Albert  Gordon  Greene.  1827. 

2.  We  Shall  Meet.     Fragment. 

We  shall  meet  but  we  shall  miss  him; 

There  will  be  one  vacant  chair, 
We  shall  linger  to  caress  him 

While  we  breathe  our  evening  prayer. 

This  is  from  "The  Vacant  Chair",  by  George  F.  Root. 

3.  The    Marriage    Rite    Was    Over,    (The   Stepmother,    I 
Could  Not  Call  Her  Mother). 

I  wreathed  my  face  in  smiles, 

And  took  my  little  brother 
To  greet  my  father's  chosen, 

But  I  could  not  call  her  mother. 

4.  Over  the  Hills  to  the  Poor  House.     Complaint  of  a 
father  driven  from  his  home  by  his  children. 

What?    No,  it  can't  be  they've  driven 
Their  father  so  helpless  and  old; 
O  God,  may  their  crime  be  forgiven, 
To  perish  out  there  in  the  cold. 

5.  Crysta  Leroy,  Christine  Leroy.    A  wife  complains  that 
the  happiness  of  her  home  has  been  broken  by  the  agency  of 
Crysta  Leroy. 

When  she  gave  her  soft  hand  to  my  husband, 

And  wished  me  a  lifetime  of  joy, 
How  my  heart  sank  with  fear  at  the  malice 

In  the  bright  eyes  of  Crysta  Leroy. 


FOLK-SONG  OF  NEBRASKA  [123]  39 

6.  The  Sheriff's  Sale.    A  child  pleads  for  the  home  of  his 
forefathers. 

Please  spare  the  old  home,  please  spare  it  I  pray, 
Don't  turn  out  my  mother,  she's  feeble  and  gray, 
And  my  dear  loving  sister,  so  sickly  and  pale; 
Auctioneer,  auctioneer,  won't  you  please  stop  the  sale? 

7.  I'll  Be  All  Smiles  Tonight.    See  XIV,  14. 


X.     SONGS  OF  DYING   SOLDIERS  AND  OTHER  WAR 

PIECES 

These  songs  tell  of  soldiers,  and  are  based,  or  purport  to  be 
based,  on  incidents  in  the  civil  war. 

1.  The  Blue  and  the  Gray.     A  mother's  three  sons  go  to 
war  and  are  killed. 

One  lies  down  near  Appomattox,  many  miles  away, 
Another  sleeps  at  Chickamauga,  and  they  both  wore  suits  of  gray; 
'Mid  the  strains  of  "Down  in  Dixie"  the  third  was  laid  away, 
In  a  trench  at  Santiago,  the  blue  and  the  gray. 

2.  The  Pardon  Came  too  Late.    A  boy  hastening  from  the 
ranks  in  response  to  a  message  from  his  mother,  who  is  dying, 
is  caught  and  shot  as  a  deserter. 

The  volley  was  fired  at  sunrise,  just  at  the  break  of  day, 
And  while  the  echoes  lingered  a  soul  had  passed  away, 
Into  the  arms  of  his  Maker,  and  there  to  hear  his  fate; 
A  tear,  a  sigh,  a  sad  good  bye — the  pardon  came  too  late. 

3.  Just  as  the  Sun  Went  Down.     Two  soldiers  lie  dying 
on  the  battlefield. 

One  thought  of  mother,  at  home,  alone,  feeble  and  old  and  gray, 
One  of  the  sweetheart  he  left  in  town,  happy  and  young  and  gay, 
One  kissed  a  ringlet  of  thin  gray  hair,  one  kissed  a  lock  of  brown, 
Bidding  farewell  to  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  just  as  the  sun  went  down. 

4.  The  Last  Fierce  Charge.    Two  soldiers  are  on  a  battle 
field,  one  a  blue-eyed  youth  of  nineteen,  the  other  tall  and  dark. 
The  latter  asks  the  youth  to  take  back  messages  to  his  sweetheart 
and  his  mother;  but  in  the  fight  both  soldiers  are  killed  and  the 
messages  are  never  taken. 

It  was  just  before  the  last  fierce  charge 

Two  soldiers  drew  their  rein 
For  a  parting  word  and  a  touch  of  hands, 

They  ne'er  might  meet  again. 


40   [124]  NEBRASKA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

5.  The  Dying  Soldier,  (Buena  Vista  Battlefield).    He  asks 
his  comrades  to  take  messages  to  his  father,  mother,  and  sweet 
heart. 

On  Beaunavista's  bloody  field 

A  dying  soldier  lay. 
His  thoughts  were  on  his  happy  home 

Some  thousand  miles  away. 

6.  Farewell,  Mother,  I  am  Going.     Message  of  a  soldier 
to  his  mother. 

Farewell,  mother,  I  am  going; 

For  my  country  here  I  die; 
I  know  you'll  not  forget  me,  mother, 

When  beneath  the  sod  I  lie. 

7.  The  Soldier's  Funeral.     Meditations,  general  in  char 
acter,  on  a  soldier's  death. 

Hark  to  the  shrill  bugle  calling, 
It  pierces  the  soft  summer  air; 
Tears  from  each  comrade  are  falling, 
For  the  widow  and  the  orphans  are  there. 

8.  Just  Before  the  Battle.    Theme  indicated  by  the  stanza — 

Just  before  the  battle  mother, 

I  am  thinking  most  of  you, 
While  upon  the  field  I'm  watching 

With  the  enemy  in  view. 

9.  Just  After  the  Battle.    Words  of  a  soldier  lying  on  the 
field  of  battle  among  his  comrades.     Companion  piece  of  the 
preceding. 

Mother  dear,  your  boy  is  wounded 

And  the  nights  are  drear  with  pain, 
But  still  I  feel  that  I  shall  see  you 

And  the  dear  old  home  again. 

10.  Sleeping  for  the  Flag.    Lament  for  a  dead  soldier. 

When  the  boys  come  home  with  triumph,  brother, 

With  bright  laurels  they  shall  gain, 
When  we  go  to  give  them  triumph,  brother, 

We  shall  look  for  you  in  vain. 

11.  The  Happy  Day  Has  Come,  Kate.    Peace  is  declared 
and  "the  bloody  war  is  over". 

Let  us  sing  then  for  joy, 

For  our  country's  truly  free, 

And  the  slave  shall  tread  its  precious  soil  no  more. 

12.  Sing  Me  a  Song  of  the  South*     See  VI,  4. 


FOLK-SONG  OF  NEBRASKA  [125]  41 

XI.    SONGS  OF  NOTABLE  TRAGEDIES  OR  DISASTERS 

The  following  pieces  tell  of  notable  disasters,  assassinations, 
and  the  like,  taking  place  in  the  last  fifty  or  sixty  years. 

1.  The     Jamestown    Flood,     The     Johnstown     Flood. 

The  narrator  tells  of  the  death  of  his  wife  and  children  in  the  flood. 

Is  it  news  you  ask  for,  strangers,  as  you  stand  and  gaze  around 
At  those  cold  and  helpless  bodies,  lying  here  upon  the  ground? 

2.  The  Milwaukee  Fire.    The  Newhall  house  was  burning 
and  a  hundred  souls  perishing.     The  firemen  worked  bravely 
but  vainly.    A  servant  girl  in  the  highest  window  jumped,  and 
a  mother  sees  her  boy  above  in  a  window. 

'Twas  the  gray  of  early  morning  when  the  dreadful  cry  of  fire 

Rang  out  upon  the  cold  and  piercing  air; 
Just  that  little  word  alone  is  all  it  would  require 

To  spread  dismay  and  panic  everywhere. 

3.  The  Lady  Elgin,  XII,  2. 

4.  The  Texas  Rangers,  VII,  13. 

5.  The  Death  of  Garfield,  VI,  2. 

6.  See  also  "Jesse  James",  VIII,  2. 

XII.     SONGS  OF  THE  LOST  AT  SEA 

The  songs  of  this  group  are  of  the  "lament"  type,  for  those 
lost  in  shipwreck,  or  dying  at  sea. 

1.  The  Ship  that  Never  Returned.    A  sailor  kisses  his  wife 
for  a  last  voyage,  and  a  youth  leaves  his  kind  old  mother,  to  sail 
on  the  ship  that  never  returned. 

Did  she  ever  return?    No  she  never  returned, 
And  her  fate  is  still  unlearned; 
But  for  years  and  years  there  were  found  hearts 
Waiting  for  the  ship  that  never  returned. 

2.  The  Lady  Elgin.    A  lament  for  the  lives  of  those  lost  in 
a  wrecked  ship. 

Lost  in  the  Lady  Elgin, 

Sleeping  to  wake  no  more, 
Numbered  in  death  three  hundred 

Who  failed  to  reach  the  shore. 

By  George  F.  Root.    The  song  commemorates  a  wreck  on 
Lake  Michigan  in  1860. 


42   [126]  NEBRASKA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

3.  Sailor's  Trade.     A  maiden  regrets  the  absence  of  her 
sailor  boy.    She  hails  the  captain  of  a  ship  returning  from  Spain, 
inquires  of  her  lover,  and  is  told  that  he  is  "drowned  in  the  gulf". 
The  last  stanza  corresponds  to  that  of  "The  Butcher  Boy", 
V.  2  (2),  and  is  found  also  in  the  college  or  parlor  song  "There 
is  a  Tavern  in  the  Town,"  which  is  related  to  the  Old  World 
folk-song  "Died  of  Love." 

The  sailor's  trade  is  a  cruel  life, 
It  robs  the  maid  of  her  heart  and  life; 
It  causes  each  heart  to  weep  and  mourn 
The  loss  of  a  sailor  boy  never  to  return. 

4.  Dublin  Bay.    Roy  Neal  and  his  fair  young  bride  venture 
forth  in  a  ship. 

She  has  struck  a  rock,  the  seamen  cried, 

In  a  breath  of  wild  dismay. 
The  ship  went  down  with  the  fair  young  bride 

That  sailed  for  Dublin  Bay. 

This  song  is  by  Mrs.  Crawford  and  George  Baker.  See  the 
Franklin  Square  Collection,  vol.  4,  118. 

5.  The  Sailor  Bride's  Lament.   She  is  married  in  the  spring. 
The  sailor's  ship  is  soon  ordered  away,  and  he  is  drowned. 

My  sailor  sleeps  beneath  the  wave, 
The  mermaids  sing  o'er  his  ocean  grave; 
The  maids  now  await  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea, 
And  are  weeping  tears  of  grief  for  me. 

6.  Ocean  Burial.    A  youth  dying  at  sea  had  hoped  to  be 
buried  in  the  churchyard  on  a  hillside  by  his  father,  mourned  by 
his  mother,  sister,  and  sweetheart.    His  request  for  land  burial  is 
not  heeded. 

"O  bury  me  not  in  the  deep,  deep  sea, 
Where  the  billowy  shroud  will  roll  over  me". 

Compare  "The  Lone  Prairie",  VII,  9.    See  also  VI. 

7.  Little   Nell,  IX,  1. 

8.  Three  Sailor  Boys,  I,  8. 

XIII.     SONGS  IN  DIALOGUE,  OR  TWO-PART  SONGS 

In  the  following  songs  there  are  two  speakers,  one  following 
the  other  in  answer  or  comment. 

1.  Billy  Boy  is  asked  whether  his  wife  can  make  a  cherry 
pie,  a  feather  bed,  a  loaf  of  bread,  a  "muly  cow",  etc.,  and  gives 
humorous  responses. 


FOLK-SONG  OF  NEBRASKA  [127]  43 

"  O  where  have  you  been,  Billy  Boy,  Billy  Boy? 

O  where  have  you  been  charming  Billy?" 
"I  have  been  for  a  wife,  she's  the  treasure  of  my  life, 

She's  a  young  thing  but  can't  leave  her  mother." 

For  this  piece  see  The  Journal  of  American  Folk-Lore.  XXVI 
357. 

2.  The  Courtship  of  Billy  Grimes.    A  daughter  tells  her 
father  that  Billy  Grimes  the  drover  wishes  to  marry  her  and  that 
the  next  day  she  is  going  walking  with  him.    The  father  refuses 
consent.    The  daughter  answers  that  Billy's  father  is  dead  and 
that  he  is  heir  to  about  three  thousand  yearly.    The  father  then 
promptly  consents. 

"He's  coming  here  tomorrow,  Pa, 
He's  coming  bright  and  early 
And  I'm  to  take  a  walk  with  him 
Across  the  fields  of  barley." 

Printed  in  Choice  Selections,  p.  7. 

3.  No  Sir.    A  man  asks  a  girl  if  she  will  tell  him  why  she 
always  answers  "no"  to  his  questions.     She  answers  that  her 
father  was  a  Spanish  merchant,  and  before  he  went  to  sea  he  in 
structed  her  always  to  answer  "no".    The  man  responds — 

"  If  when  walking  in  the  garden 
Plucking  flowers  all  wet  with  dew 
Tell  me  would  you  be  offended 
If  I'd  walk  and  talk  with  you?",  etc. 

Answer:    "No  sir,  no  sir,  no  sir,  no." 
Printed  in  The  Treasury  of  Song,  1882.    Music  by  Wakefield. 

4.  The  Gypsy's  Warning.    The  gypsy  warns  a  young  lady 
not  to  trust  the  lover  kneeling  at  her  feet.    The  man  pleads  his 
constancy.    The  girl  believes  the  gypsy  and  wishes  to  pay  her, 
but  the  gypsy  refuses  the  gold.    She  points  out  the  grave  of  her 
only  child,  whom  the  man  had  earlier  wooed  and  won. 

"Do  not  trust  him  gentle  lady, 

Though  his  voice  be  low  and  sweet, 

Heed  him  not  who  kneels  before  thee 
Softly  pleading  at  thy  feet." 

5.  The  Milkmaid.    A  maiden  is  asked  where  she  is  going, 
whether  she  may  be  accompanied,  what  her  father  is,  and  what 
is  her  fortune.     She  answers  that  she  is  going  a-milking,  that 
her  father  is  a  farmer,  that  her  face  is  her  fortune,  etc. 

Then  I  won't  have  you  my  pretty  maid, 
My  pretty  maid,  my  pretty  maid 

Nobody  asked  you,  sir,  I  say, 
Sir  I  say,  sir  I  say 


44   [128]  NEBRASKA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

6.  [What  Will  you  Give  Me  if  I  Get  Up?]     A  daughter 
asks  her  mother  what  she  will  be  given  if  she  gets  up.     The 
answer  is  "A  slice  of  bread  and  a  cup  of  tea",  at  which  she  says 
she  won't  get  up.    Then  her  mother  promised  her  a  "nice  young 
man  with  rosy  cheeks. " 

Yes,  mother,  I  will  get  up, 
I  will,  I  will,  I  will  get  up, 
Yes,  mother,  I  will  get  up, 
I  will  get  up  today. 

Also  used  in  a  singing  game,  see  XXVIII,  19. 

7.  Paper  of  Pins.    The  wooer  offers  a  girl  a  paper  of  pins,  a 
little  lap  dog,  a  coach  and  four,  a  coach  and  six,  the  key  of  his 
heart,  and  finally  a  chest  of  gold,  if  she  will  marry  him.    The 
offers  are  refused  until  the  last,  which  is  accepted.     Then  he 
affirms — 

"Ha,  ha,  money  is  all, 

Woman's  love  is  nothing  at  all, 
And  I'll  not  marry,  I'll  not  marry, 
I'll  not  marry  you. 

8.  Never  Can  Thy  Home  Be  Mine.    Tempted  to  seek  the 
land  of  the  stranger,  the  girl  decides  for  her  mountain  home. 

And  there  is  one  who  loves  me  here, 
Whose  voice,  if  less  sweet  than  thine, 

To  my  simple  taste  is  far  more  dear, 
No,  ne'er  can  thy  home  be  mine. 

9.  The  Quaker's  Courtship.    The  wooer  says  that  he  has 
a  ring  worth  a  shilling,  a  kitchen  full  of  servants,  a  stable  full  of 
horses,  etc.,  and  asks  if  he  must  join  the  Presbyterians;  but  he 
meets  rebuff. 

Madam  I  have  come  a-courting,  hi,  ho  hum! 
I'm  for  business  not  for  sporting,  hi,  ho,  hum! 

That  you  go  home  is  my  desire,  rol,  dol,  dil,  a  day, 
Unless  you  stay  and  court  the  fire,  rol,  dol,  dil  a  day. 

See  NewelFs  Games  and  Songs  of  American  Children,  p.  94. 
New  York,  1903. 

10.  Johnny  Randall,  I,  4. 

11.  Barney  McCoy.  Ill,  6. 
See  also  XXXI,  9. 


FOLK-SONG  OF  NEBRASKA  [129]  45 

XIV.     SENTIMENTAL  LYRICS 

This  group  though  conventional  in  character  and  not  one 
having  greatest  interest  as  folk-song  is  an  especially  popular 
group.  Many  pieces  deal  with  memories  of  a  former  sweetheart. 
Compare  IX,  3. 

1.  I've  a  Longing  in  my  Heart.     Memories  of  an  absent 
lover. 

I've  a  longing  in  my  heart  for  you,  Louise, 

And  for  the  dear  sunny  southern  home. 

I  can  scent  the  honeysuckle  and  the  fragrant  jassimine 

I've  a  longing  in  my  heart  for  you. 

2.  Will  You  Love  Me  When  I'm  Old?    Addressed  by  one 
lover  to  another. 

Life's  morn  will  soon  be  waning, 

And  its  evening  bells  be  tolled; 
But  my  heart  will  know  no  sadness 

If  you'll  love  me  when  I'm  old. 

The  words  and  music  of  this  song  are  by  J.  Ford. 

3.  In  the  Gloaming.    Words  of  a  parted  lover. 

In  the  gloaming,  0  my  darling, 

When  the  lights  are  dim  and  low, 
And  the  quiet  shadows  falling 

Softly  come  and  softly  go. 

The  words  of  this  song  are  by  Meta  Orred,  the  music  by  Annie 
F.  Harrison,  (Lady  Arthur  Hill).  Published  1877. 

4.  A  Song  for  the  Girl  I  Love.    The  second  stanza  reveals 
that  the  girl  is  dead. 

A  song  for  the  girl  I  love,  God  love  her 
A  song  for  the  eyes  that  tender  shine. 

By  Frederick  Langbridge.  See  Slason  Thompson's  The 
Humbler  Poets  (1908),  p.  157. 

5.  Florence  Vane.    The  girl  addressed  in  this  piece  is  dead. 

I  loved  thee  long  and  dearly, 

Sweet  Florence  Vane, 
My  life's  bright  dream  and  early 

Have  come  again. 

The  words  of  this  song  are  by  Philip  P.  Cook,  the  music 
by  W.  H.  Stoy.  It  was  published  in  1865. 


46   [130]  NEBRASKA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

fP  6.  Are  We  Forgotten  When  We're  Gone?     Theme  indi 
cated  in  the  following  stanza. 

Are  we  forgotten  when  we're  gone? 
Are  all  life's  hopes  and  dreams  in  vain? 
Say  do  they  ever  think  of  us? 
And  fondly  wish  for  us  again? 

7.  Sweet  Mary.    Addressed  to  "Sweet  Mary"  by  her  lover, 
whose  suit  does  not  go  smoothly,  since  he  is  not  liked  by  her 
parents. 

"I'll  eat  when  I'm  hungry  and  drink  when  I'm  dry, 
And  think  of  sweet  Mary  and  sit  down  and  cry; 
I  will  build  me  a  castle  on  the  mountain  wild  so  high 
So  the  birds  will  see  me  as  they  pass  me  by. " 

8.  Sweet  Ellen.    Addressed  to  sweet  Ellen  by  her  lover. 

There's  something  I  have  not  told, 
My  love  to  you  is  as  a  ring  of  gold, 
It's  round,  it's  pure,  it  has  no  end, 
Then  so  is  my  love  to  my  dear  friend. 

9.  There   is   Somebody  Waiting.     The  speaker  proposes 
to  "steal  down  the  stair"  to  someone  waiting  outside  in  the 
twilight. 

There  is  somebody  waiting, 
There  is  somebody  waiting, 
There  is  somebody  waiting  for  me. 

This  song  was  composed  by  Charles  Glover  and  was  published 
about  1860. 

10.  I  Am  Talking  in  My  Sleep,  (I've  Something  Sweet  to 
Tell  You).    Theme  indicated  in  the  opening  stanza. 

I  have  something  sweet  to  tell  you, 
The  secret  you  must  keep, 
Now  remember  when  I  tell  it, 
I  am  talking  in  my  sleep. 

The  words  of  this  song  are  by  Francis  S.  Osgood,  the  music 
by  T.  S.  Lloyd.  A  text  may  be  found  in  The  Treasury  of  Song, 
No.  2,  New  York,  1884. 

11.  Lorena.  Regrets  of  a  man  for  his  sweetheart,  from  whom 
he  has  been  parted. 

The  years  creep  slowly  by,  Lorena, 

The  snow  is  on  the  grass  again, 

The  sun's  low  down  the  sky,  Lorena, 

The  frost  gleams  where  the  flowers  have  been. 

This  song  was  composed  by  Rev.  H.  D.  L.  Webster  about 
1856.  Music  by  S.  P.  Webster.  It  was  published  in  1861, 


FOLK-SONG  OF  NEBRASKA  [131]  47 

12.  Juanita.    The  familiar  song  by  Mrs.  Norton. 

Soft  o'er  the  fountain, 

Ling'ring  falls  the  southern  moon,  etc. 

Far  o'er  the  mountain 
Breaks  the  day  too  soon. 

13.  Willie  and  Kate,     The    Hawthorne    Tree,     Katie's 
Secret.    A  girl  addresses  her  mother  and  tells  of  her  sweetheart. 

Last  night  I  was  weeping,  dear  mother, 

When  Willie  came  down  by  the  gate, 
And  whispered  "Come  out  in  the  moonlight, 

For  I've  something  to  say  to  you,  Kate." 

14.  All  Smiles  Tonight.     The  speaker  says  she  will  deck 
herself  out  and  smile  and  seem  light-hearted  when  the  man  she 
loves  enters  with  his  bride  on  his  arm,  though  her  heart  may 
break  the  next  day. 

I'll  be  all  smiles  tonight,  love, 

I'll  be  all  smiles  tonight, 

Though  my  heart  may  break  tomorrow, 

I'll  be  all  smiles  tonight. 

15.  Dear  Heart,  We're  Growing  Old.     Theme  indicated 
in  the  chorus — 

Dear  heart,  because  we're  growing  old, 
Dear  heart,  because  we're  growing  old; 
Nor  do  we  love  each  other  less, 
Dear  heart,  because  we're  growing  old. 

16.  'Tis  True,  Dear  Heart,  We're  Fading.    Same  type  as 
preceding. 

Leaves  may  fall  and  roses  wither, 
Tresses  lose  their  brown  and  gold, 
But,  dear  heart,  you're  fair  as  ever, 
And  to  me  you're  never  old. 

17.  Sweet  Bunch  of  Daisies.    A  bunch  of  withered  daisies 
brings  memories  of  youthful  love. 

When  you  and  I  together  roamed  through  forests  green, 
Gathering  daisies  growing  by  the  stream. 

18.  Kitty  Clyde.    The  singer  wishes  he  were  a  bird  to  nestle 
in  her  hair,  a  fish  to  be  caught  by  her,  etc. 

0  have  you  seen  my  sweet  Kitty  Clyde? 

She  lives  near  the  foot  of  the  hill, 
In  a  little  shy  hut  by  the  babbling  brook 

That  runs  near  her  father's  mill. 

19.  Wait  for  the  Wagon.     The  speaker  urges  Phillis  to  come 
with  him  to  "yon  blue  mountain  home". 

Then  come  with  me,  sweet  Phillis,  my  dear,  my  lovely  bride, 
We'll  jump  into  the  wagon  and  all  take  a  ride. 


48   [132]  NEBRASKA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

By  R.  B.  Buckley,  organizer  of   Buckley's  minstrels,  1843. 
See  the  Franklin  Square  Collection,  vol.  6,  108. 

20.  Anna  Lee.    The  singer  has  written  to  her  lover  releasing 
him  because  he  went  riding  with  Anna  Lee.    In  the  last  stanza 
he  is  seen  entering  the  gate,  and  her  feeling  changes. 

Every  lady  in  the  village 
Knows  that  he's  been  courting  me, 
And  this  morning  saw  him  riding 
With  that  saucy  Anna  Lee. 

21.  Answer  to  "Do  They  Miss  Me  at  Home?"     Theme 
indicated  by  opening  stanza. 

"O  yes,  dearest  brother,  we  miss  thee, 

With  joy  we  welcome  thee  home; 
Thy  place  here  too  long  has  been  vacant; 

O  say,  wilt  thou  never  return?" 

See  also  groups  IV.  V.  IX,  etc. 


XV.      POPULAR    LYRICS    OF    HOMESICKNESS 

The  following  songs  deal  with  memories  of  home  or  of  child 
hood.  The  speaker  recalls  his  old  mother,  or  his  youthful  court 
ship,  (especially  the  bereaved  lover),  a  city  dweller  regrets  his 
old  farm  or  mountain  home,  or  an  emigrant  his  Old  World  home. 
All  are  of  the  parlor  or  concert-hall  type. 

1.  Shadows  on  the  Wall.    Memories  of  the  old  home  circle. 

Tis  broken,  the  happy  home  circle, 

And  hushed  are  the  voices  of  mirth, 
They  are  gone,  all  the  loved  and  the  dear  ones, 

The  fire  burns  low  on  the  hearth. 

2.  She  Was  Bred  in  Old   Kentucky.     Memories  of  the 
wooing  of  an  old  sweetheart. 

She  was  bred  in  old  Kentucky,  where  the  meadow  grass  is  blue, 
There's  the  sunshine  of  the  country  in  her  face  and  manner  too. 

3.  When  the  Harvest  Days  are  Over.    An  old  man  recalls 
the  courtship  of  his  youth. 

When  the  harvest  days  are  over,  Jessie  dear, 

And  the  sun-kiss'd  flowers  bloom  'neath  sky  so  clear, 

You  will  keep  the  word  you  said, 

That's  the  time  we  two  shall  wed, 
When  the  harvest  days  are  over,  Jessie  dear. 

4.  Gathering  Shells  From  the  Sea-Shore.     Memories  of 
the  days  of  childhood. 


FOLK-SONG  OF  NEBRASKA  [133]  49 

Gathering  up  the  shells  from  the  sea  shore, 

Gathering  up  the  shells  from  the  shore, 
Ah,  those  were  the  happiest  days  of  all,  Maud, 

Gathering  up  the  shells  from  the  shore. 

5.  Dreaming  of  Home.    A  song  of  homesickness. 

Dreaming  of  home,  dear  old  home, 
Home  of  my  childhood  and  mother. 
Oft  when  I  wake  it  is  sweet  to  find 
I've  been  dreaming  of  home  and  mother. 

6.  A  Violet  from  My  Mother's  Grave.    A  man's  memories 
of  his  mother  in  the  old  home. 

Only  a  violet  I  plucked  when  a  boy, 
And  ofttimes  when  I  am  sad  at  heart 
This  flower  has  given  me  joy. 

7.  On  the  Banks  of  Lonely  River.     Memories  of  an  aged 
mother  "ten  thousand  miles  away". 

Then  blame  me  not  for  weeping 
Then  blame  me  not,  I  pray, 
For  I  long  to  see  my  mother, 
Ten  thousand  miles  away. 

8.  Rosie  Nell,  or  Swinging    in  the  Lane.     Memories  of 
childhood  and  school,  especially  of  swinging  in  the  lane  with 
Rosie  Nell.    One  day  she  goes  swinging  in  the  lane  with  a  young 
chap  from  the  city  instead  of  with  the  speaker. 

And  yet  I'd  give  the  world  to  be  with  Rosie  Nell  again 
I  never,  never  can  forget  our  swinging  in  the  lane. 

Words  and  music  composed  by  Charles  Carroll  Sawyer. 

9.  Bettie  and  the  Baby.    A  soldier  in  his  prison  longs  for 
his  wife  and  baby. 

Hoping,  longing  for  relief  from  day  to  day, 

0  it  would  gush  the  soldier's  pains, 
If  he  could  but  clasp  again 
Faithful  Bettie  and  the  baby  far  away. 

10.  Down  on  the  Farm.    A  dweller  in  the  city  recalls  his 
old  home. 

Just  a  field  of  new-mown  hay, 

Just  a  cottage  by  the  way, 

Just  a  mother  dear  to  shield  me  from  all  harm. 

11.  My  Mountain  Home.    The  singer  expresses  attachment 
to  his  mountain  home. 

1  love  the  wild  hollows  of  my  mountain  home, 
My  mountain  home,  my  mountain  home, 
Where  free  as  the  breezes  my  footsteps  roam, 
My  bounding  footsteps  roam. 


50   [134]  NEBRASKA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

Cf.  The  Great  Republic  Songster,  I,  122. 

12.  My  Little  German  Home  Across  the  Sea.    Memories 
and  regrets  of  an  emigrant. 

No  matter  where  I  roam  I  don't  forget  my  home, 

0  the  home  that  ever  was  so  dear  to  me, 
O  it's  many  times  a  day  my  thoughts  that  fly  away, 

To  my  little  German  home  across  the  sea. 

13.  My  Own  Native  Land.     In  various  lands  and  scenes, 
the  singer  regrets  his  home. 

Though  the  fields  were  as  green  and  the  moon  shone  as  bright 

Yet  it  was  not  my  own  native  land. 

No,  no,  no,  no,  no,  no,  no,  no,  no,  no,  no,  no,  no,  no. 

This  song  is  by  W.  B.  Bradbury. 

14.  Old  Dog  Tray.    The  speaker's  friends  have  gone.    No 
thing  is  left  of  his  past  but  his  old  dog. 

Old  dog  Tray's  ever  faithful, 

Grief  cannot  drive  him  away; 

He's  gentle,  he's  kind;   I'll  never,  never  find 

A  better  friend  than  old  dog  Tray. 

The  words  and  music  of  this  song  are  by  Stephen  C.  Foster. 


XVI.     MEMORIES  OF  OBJECTS  FAMILIAR  IN  CHILD 
HOOD 

Closely  related  to  the  preceding  group  are  the  following  which 
tell  of  memories  of  specific  objects  familiar  in  childhood.  They 
may  be  classed  as  derivatives  of  the  "Old  Oaken  Bucket". 
Compare  also  Eliza  Cooke's  once  popular  "The  Old  Arm  Chair". 

1.  The  Old  Wooden  Rocker.    Memories  of  an  old  rocking- 
chair. 

There  it  stands  in  the  corner  with  its  back  to  the  wall, 
The  old  wooden  rocker  so  stately  and  tall; 
With  naught  to  disturb  it  but  the  duster  and  broom, 
For  no  one  uses  that  back  parlor  room. 

2.  The  Old  Kitchen  Floor.    Fragment  of  a  song,  beginning- 

Far  back  in  my  musings  my  thoughts  have  been  cast 
To  the  cot  where  the  hours  of  my  childhood  were  past. 

3.  Grandfather's  Clock.    Once  a  favorite  concert-hall  song 
with  the  "Georgia  minstrel"  Sam  Lucas. 

Ninety  years  without  slumbering,  tick,  tick,  tick,  tick, 
His  life  seconds  numbering,  tick,  tick,  tick,  tick, 


FOLK-SONG  OF  NEBRASKA  [135]   51 

It  stopped  short,  never  to  go  again, 
When  the  old  man  died. 

By  Henry  C.  Work. 

4.  The  Little  Brown  Church  in  the  Vale.     Close  by  the 
church  in  the  valley  is  the  grave  of  the  speaker's  beloved  one. 
He  hopes  to  be  buried  there  at  her  side. 

There's  a  church  in  a  valley  by  the  wildwood, 

No  lovelier  place  in  the  vale; 
No  spot  is  so  dear  to  my  childhood 

As  the  little  brown  church  in  the  vale. 

Reported  as  of  Iowa  composition,  the  work  of  a  Dr.  Pitts. 

5.  The  Sheriff's  Sale.    See  IX,  4,  6. 

6.  See  also  "The  Old  Elm  Tree"  and  other  pieces  in  IX, 
XIV,  XV,  etc. 

XVII.     MORALIZING  OR  REFLECTIVE  PIECES 

These  pieces  may  conveniently  be  classified  as  "moralities". 
They  tell  some  incident,  teaching  a  lesson,  or  present  some  re 
flection. 

1.  Father,  Dear  Father,  Come  Home  With  Me  Now.    A 

girl  appeals  to  her  father.  It  is  one  o'clock  and  her  mother  is 
at  home  with  her  sick  brother.  She  appeals  again  at  two  o'clock. 
At  three  the  brother  is  dead. 

"Father,  dear  father,  come  home  with  me  now, 
The  clock  in  the  steeple  strikes  one." 

This  song  is  by  Henry  C.  Work. 

2.  Two   Babes.     Contrast  in  their  lives  and  fortunes  as 
children,  maidens,  and  women.    But  in  Heaven  none  shall  know 
which  was  rich,  and  which  was  poor. 

But  one  of  them  lived  in  a  terraced  house 
And  one  in  the  streets  below. 

3.  The  Model  Church.    An  old  man  describes  to  his  wife 
his  finding  of  the  "model  church". 

The  sexton  did  not  set  me  down 

Away  back  by  the  door, 
He  knew  that  I  was  old  and  deaf 

And  saw  that  I  was  poor. 

This  piece  was  written  by  John  H.  Yates.  A  text  is  printed  in 
Slason  Thompson's  The  Humbler  Poets,  p.  300.  1908. 


52   [136]  NEBRASKA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

4.  The  Rosewood  Cradle.    A  mother  stitches  a  little  robe 
of  white  for  her  child.    The  child  dies. 

In  a  rosewood  casket  a  baby  lay, 
In  the  Saviour's  arms,  far,  far  away, 
In  that  little  robe  of  white. 

5.  Little  Em'ly.    The  theme  of  this  song  is  indicated  by  the 
recurring  stanza — 

I  have  sinn'd  and  I  have  suffered 

More  than  words  of  mine  can  tell, 
And  in  sorrow  I'm  returning 

To  the  home  I  love  so  well. 

6.  After  the  Ball.    A  bachelor,  asked  by  his  niece  why  he 
lives  alone,  explains  that  he  once  had  a  sweetheart  whom  he 
thought  faithless  "after  the  ball"  and  whose  heart  was  broken 
by  his  mistake. 

After  the  ball  is  over,  after  the  break  of  morn, 
After  the  dancers'  leaving,  after  the  stars  are  gone, 
Many  a  heart  is  aching,  if  you  could  read  them  all, 
Many  the  hopes  that  have  vanished,  after  the  ball. 

This  song  was  composed  by  Charles  K.  Harris,  in  1892. 

7.  Pass  Under  the   Rod.     A  bride  loses  her  husband,  a 
mother  her  boy,  and  a  father  and  mother  their  gifted  son. 

They  had  each  heard  a  voice,  'twas  the  voice  of  their  God, 
I  love  thee,  I  love  thee,  pass  under  the  rod. 

By  Mrs.  Dana.    1862. 

8.  Be  Kind  to  the  Loved  Ones  at  Home.     The  claims  on 
his  consideration  of  his  various  relatives  are  urged  upon  the  one 
addressed.    The  last  stanza  is  summarizing. 

Be  kind  to  thy  father  once  fearless  and  bold, 
Be  kind  to  thy  mother,  so  near; 
Be  kind  to  thy  brother,  nor  show  thy  heart  cold; 
Be  kind  to  thy  sister  so  dear. 

By  J.  B.  Woodbury. 

9.  What  is  the  Use  of  Repining?  or  Where  There's  a  Will 
There's  a  Way.     Life  is  difficult,  and  people  complain.     Only 
work  and  persistence  bring  success. 

Then  what  is  the  use  of  repining? 

For  where  there's  a  will  there's  a  way; 
For  tomorrow  the  sun  may  be  shining 

Although  it  is  cloudy  today. 


FOLK-SONG  OF  NEBRASKA  [137]   53 

10.  Don't  You  Go,  Tommy.    His  feeble  father  and  mother 
plead  with  him  to  give  up  whiskey,  billiards,  and  cards,  and  to 
be  industrious  and  sober.    He  is  needed  on  the  farm. 

Don't  you  go,  Tommy,  don't  go, 

Stay  at  home,  Tommy,  don't  go; 
There's  no  one  but  idlers  that  lounge  about  so, 

I  beg  of  you,  Tommy,  don't  go! 

11.  The  Two  Drummers.     Two  drummers  speak  slight 
ingly  to  a  pretty  waitress.     She  protests,  saying  her  "mother 
was  a  lady",  and  that  she  has  come  to  the  city  to  find  her  brother. 
The  drummers  ask  her  pardon,  and  one,  saying  he  knows  her 
brother,  asks  her  to  marry  him. 

My  mother  was  a  lady, 

As  yours,  no  doubt  you'll  allow, 
And  you  may  have  a  sister 

Who  needs  protection  now. 

XVIII.     RELIGIOUS  PIECES 

Some  of  these  songs,  many  of  which  are  still  popular,  were 
revival  songs  in  origin.    A  few  are  standard  hymns. 

1.  On  Jordan's  Stormy  Banks. 

On  Jordan's  stormy  banks  I  stand, 

And  cast  a  wistful  eye 
To  Canaan's  fair  and  happy  land, 

Where  my  possessions  lie. 

Text  to  be  found  in  Gospel  Hymns  Consolidated,  p.  303  (1883). 
Words  by  Rev.  Samuel  Stennett,  music  by  T.  C.  O'Kane. 

2.  Pull  for  the  Shore. 

Pull  for  the  shore,  sailor,  pull  for  the  shore, 
Heed  not  the  rolling  waves  but  bend  to  the  oar, 
Safe  in  the  lifeboat,  sailor,  clinging  to  self  no  more, 
Leave  the  poor  old  stranded  wreck  and  pull  for  the  shore. 

3.  We'll  Stem  the  Storm. 

We'll  stem  the  storm,  it  won't  be  long; 
We'll  stem  the  storm,  it  won't  be  long; 
We'll  anchor  by  and  by. 

4.  The  Sweet  By  and  By. 

In  the  sweet  by  and  by 

We  shall  meet  on  that  beautiful  shore. 

See  Gospel  Hymns  Consolidated  ( 1883),  Words  by  S.  F.  Bennett. 
Music  by  J.  P.  Webster. 


54   [138]  NEBRASKA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

5.  Pulling  Hard  Against  the  Stream. 

Do  your  best  for  one  another, 
Making  life  a  pleasant  dream, 
Help  a  worn  and  weary  brother, 
Pulling  hard  against  the  stream. 

Text  in  Hubbard  Brothers'  Treasury  of  Song.    1882.    "  Words 
by  Clifton.    Music  by  Hobson." 

6.  Ever  to  the  Right. 

Ever  to  the  right,  boys,  ever  to  the  right. 

Never  let  your  parent  say,  Why  my  wishes  disobey? 

Ever  to  the  right,  boys,  ever  to  the  right. 

7.  I  Want  to  be  an  Angel. 

I  want  to  be  an  angel,  and  with  the  angels  stand, 
A  crown  upon  my  forehead,  a  harp  within  my  hand. 

8.  A  Home  Beyon'  The  Tide.    An  allegory  of  life,  religious 
in  trend. 

All  the  storms  will  soon  be  over, 
Then  we'll  anchor  in  the  harbor; 
We  are  out  on  the  ocean  sailing 
To  a  home  beyon'  the  tide. 

9.  Jacob's  Ladder. 

Hallelujah  to  Jesus,  who  died  on  the  tree, 
To  raise  up  this  ladder  of  mercy  for  me! 
Press  upward,  press  upward,  the  prize  is  in  view, 
A  crown  of  bright  glory  is  waiting  for  you. 

10.  Nail,  Boys,  Nail. 

Nail,  boys,  nail,  never  mind  the  gale, 
Here  a  beam  and  there  a  timber, 
There  a  board  so  long  and  limber, 
Nail,  boys,  nail,  never  mind  the  gale. 

11.  A  Light  in  the  Window.     Encouragement  is  given  to 
the  persevering  and  the  steadfast. 

There's  a  crown  and  a  robe  and  a  palm,  brother, 
When  from  toil  and  from  care  you  are  free; 
Our  Saviour  has  gone  to  prepare  you  a  home 
With  a  light  in  the  window  for  thee. 


FOLK-SONG  OF  NEBRASKA  [139]   55 

XIX.     TEMPERANCE  SONGS 

Most  of  these  pieces  narrate  some  affecting  incident,  or 
present  some  appeal.  Only  one  is  humorous.  In  several  a  child 
is  the  spokesman. 

1.  Don't  Go  put  Tonight,  Dear  Father.    The  drunkard's 
wife  is  dying.    His  only  daughter  pleads  with  him  not  to  leave 
the  home.    He  angrily  strikes  her  and  goes.    The  next  day  she 
is  found  dying  where  her  father  struck  her. 

Don't  go  out  tonight,  dear  father, 

Think,  O  think  how  sad  'twill  be, 
When  dear  mother  passes  upward 

You  will  not  be  there  to  see. 

2.  The  Drunkard's  Lone  Child.     Complaints  of  a  drunk 
ard's  daughter  whose  mother  is  dead. 

I'm  a  little  girl  in  this  cold  world  so  wide, 

God,  look  down  and  pity  the  drunkard's  lone  child, 

Look  down  and  pity,  O  soon  come  to  me, 

And  take  me  to  dwell  with  mother  and  thee. 

3.  [The  Beggar  Girl].     Fragment. 

I'm  a  poor  little  beggar  girl,  my  mother  she  is  dead, 
My  father's  a  drunkard  and  won't  buy  me  bread, 
I  sit  by  the  window  and  hear  the  music  play, 
And  think  of  my  mother  so  far  away. 

4.  Old  Jones.    The  song  sketches  a  contrast  between    Old 
Jones — 

Elbows  out  and  his  hat  stove  in, 
All  brought  about  by  drinking  gin. 

and  Squire  Brown — 

He  is  rich  for  he's  got  the  tin, 
All  brought  about  by  selling  gin. 

5.  The    Teetotallers    Are    Coming,      The    Cold    Water 
Pledge. 

The  teetotallers  are  coming, 
The  teetotallers  are  coming, 
The  teetotallers  are  coming, 
With  the  cold  water  pledge. 

For  this  piece  see  The  Great  Republic  Songster,  vol.  Ill  p.  121, 
New  York,  no  date;  also  The  Franklin  Square  Song  Collection, 
vol.  1.  New  York,  1881. 


56   [140]  NEBRASKA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

XX.    RAILROAD  SONGS  AND  NARRATIVES 

The  pieces  of  this  group  have  to  do  with  life  on  the  railroad. 

1.  The  Brakeman's  Dream.    On  a  cold  December  night  a 
brakeman  returns  from  his  work,  and,  falling  asleep,  dreams  of 
his  mother  and  his  sweetheart.    Waked  by  a  cowboy  he  hastens 
back  to  his  train  and  pulls  out  of  Kearney  on  the  "Aged  St.  Joe". 

The  cars  had  been  swaying  and  rocking, 

He  slipped  between  them  and  fell; 
The  rest  is  too  horribly  shocking, 

The  rest  too  blood-curdling  to  tell. 

2.  Casey  Jones.     He  is  eight  hours  late  with  the  Western 
mail,  runs  his  locomotive  at  breakneck  speed  to  Frisco,  and  dies 
in  a  collision. 

Come  all  ye  rounders  if  you  want  to  hear 

A  story  about  a  brave  engineer. 

Casey  Jones  was  the  rounder's  name, 

On  a  six,  eight-wheeler,  boys,  he  won  his  fame. 

This  song,  which  is  by  T.  Lawrence  Seibert,  was  copyrighted 
at  Los  Angeles  in  1909.    There  are  older  versions. 

3.  Life's  Railway  to  Heaven.    A  parallel,  sustained  through 
four  stanzas,  is  drawn  between  the  journey  through  life  and  a 
run  up  a  mountain  railroad. 

As  you  roll  across  the  trestle,  spanning  Jordan's  swelling  tide 
You  behold  the  Union  Depot  into  which  your  train  will  glide; 
There  you  meet  the  Superintendent,  God  the  Father,  God  the  Son, 
With  the  hearty  joyous  plaudit,  "Weary  pilgrim,  welcome  home." 

By  M.  E.  Abbey  and  Charlie  D.  Tillman.    Copyright,  1891. 

4.  In  the  Baggage  Coach  Ahead.     A  child  cries  in  the 
arms  of  its  father,  as  they  travel  in  a  passenger  coach  at  night. 
When  the  passengers  remonstrate  and  ask  where  the  mother  is, 
he  replies  "She's  dead  in  the  coach  ahead". 

Next  morn  at  the  station  he  bade  all  goodbye, 

"God  bless  you,"  he  softly  said, 
Each  one  had  a  story  to  tell  in  their  homes 

Of  the  baggage  coach  ahead. 

Compare  "The  Conductor's  Story"  by  M.  E.  McLoughlin. 
Werner's  Readings  and  Recitations,  No.  7,  p.  33.  N.  Y.  1892. 


FOLK-SONG  OF  NEBRASKA  [141]   57 

XXI.    HUMOROUS  NARRATIVES 

The  following  pieces,  humorous  in  character  or  treatment, 
tell  or  suggest  some  story. 

1.  Johnny  Sands.    Johnny  Sands  married  a  scolding  wife. 
He  says  he  is  tired  of  life  and  will  drown  himself  in  the  river. 
She  encourages  him,  and  he  asks  her  to  tie  his  hands  so  that  he 
cannot  try  to  save  himself.     When  they  are  on  the  bank  she 
runs  with  all  her  force  to  push  him  into  the  river.     He  steps 
aside  and  she  falls  in.    She  calls  on  him  to  save  her,  but  he  re 
minds  her  that  she  has  tied  his  hands. 

A  man  whose  name  was  Johnny  Sands 

Had  married  Betty  Hoge, 
And  though  she  brought  him  gold  and  land 

She  proved  a  terrible  plague. 

Printed  in  the  Franklin  Square  Song  Collection,  vol.  2.  New 
York  1884.  Music  by  John  Sinclair. 

2.  My    Father's    Gray    Mare.      Young   Roger   the   miller 
courted  Kate,  a  farmer's  daughter;   but  he  refused  to  take  her 
unless  the  farmer  gave  him  also  his  gray  mare.     The  farmer 
became  angry  and  refused  both  his  daughter  and  the  mare. 
When  six  months  have  passed  Roger  meets  Kate. 

O  smiling  said  Roger,  "And  don't  you  know  me?" 
"If  I  ain't  mistaken,  I've  seen  you,"  said  she; 
"A  man  of  your  likeness  with  long  yellow  hair 

Did  once  come  a-courting  my  father's  gray  mare." 

3.  Jim  Bovine.    Hepsibah  is  the  deacon's  daughter.    Across 
from  her  is  her  sweetheart  Jim  Bovine   (Boveen).     They  are 
watched  by  the  parson  who  is  her  suitor  also.    Jim  plays  the 
bass  viol  in  the  choir.     The  ballad  involves  word-play  on  the 
name  Bovine. 

He  never  will  preach  in  a  pulpit 

Where  the  choir  curtains  are  green. 
And  his  only  love  Hepsibah 

Became  Mrs.  Jim  Bovine. 

4.  Poor  Johnny  is  dead  and  in  his  grave.     An  old  apple 
tree  grew  over  his  head;   the  apples  were  beginning  to  fall  when 
an  old  woman  came  picking  them  up.     Poor  Johnny  rose  and 
gave  her  a  whack — 

If  you  want  any  more  just  sing  it  yourself, 

Sing  it  yourself,  sing  it  yourself, 
If  you  want  any  more  just  sing  it  yourself, 

O  my,  O. 

For  a  variant  of  this  piece,  and  for  its  probable  age,  see  The 
Journal  of  American  Folk-Lore,  XIII,  230.  See  also  "Poor 
Robin "  and  "Old  Rover",  XXVIII,  20,  21. 


58   [142]  NEBRASKA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

5.  I  Told  Him  Not  to  Grieve  After  Me.    Adventures  of  a 
man  who  beats  his  way. 

I  got  on  a  train,  didn't  have  no  money, 
Conductor  came  along,  I'm  feeling  kinder  funny, 
Tapped  me  on  the  shoulder,  "Where  are  you  going  sonny?" 
And  I  told  him  not  to  grieve  after  me. 

6.  Sucking  Cider  Through  a  Straw.     The  speaker  sees  a 
pretty  girl  sucking  cider  through  a  straw.    He  asks  her  why  she 
does  so,  and  she  answers  that  she  didn't  know  he  saw  her.    Then 
they  both  suck  cider  through  the  straw  and  soon  are  kissing  each 
other.    Thus  he  gets  a  mother-in-law,  and  now  he  has  fourteen 
children. 

The  prettiest  girl  that  ever  I  saw 
Was  sucking  cider  through  a  straw. 

7.  I  Wish  I  Was  Single  Again.     The  speaker  married  a 
wife,  the  plague  of  his  life.    When  she  died  he  laughed  to  think 
he  was  single  again.    He  got  another  "she's  the  devil's  grand 
mother",  and  he  wishes  he  was  single  again. 

When  I  was  single,  O  then, 
When  I  was  single,  0  then, 
My  pockets  did  jingle, 
And  I  wish  I  were  single  again. 

8.  Listen  to  My  Tale  of  Woe.    A  "little  peach  in  an  orchard 
grew"  and  is  discovered  by  a  boy  and  his  sister. 

Hard  trials  for  them  two, 
Johnny  Jones  and  his  sister  Sue 
And  the  peach  of  the  emerald  hue 
That  grew,  that  grew, 
Listen  to  my  tale  of  woe. 

Eugene  Field's  poem. 

9.  Over  The  Garden  Wall.     Story  of  a  courting  "over  a 
garden  wall",  of  an  angry  father,  and  of  final  elopement. 

Over  the  garden  wall,  the  sweetest  girl  of  all, 
There  were  never  yet  such  eyes  of  jet; 
And  you  may  bet  I'll  never  forget 
The  night  our  lips  in  kisses  met 
Over  the  garden  wall. 

Music  hall  song  popular  about  1890.     Words  by  Hunter, 
music  by  Fox. 

10.  The   Young   Man    Who   Wouldn't   Hoe   Corn.      He 

planted  his  corn  in  May,  it  was  knee-high  in  July,  and  the  frost 
killed  his  seed  in  September;  but  he  goes  courting  at  a  neighbor's. 


FOLK-SONG  OF  NEBRASKA  [143]   59 

When  asked  if  he  has  hoed  his  ground  he  says  no,  and  the  girl 
refuses  him. 

I'll  sing  you  a  song  and  it  won't  take  long, 
Concerning  a  man  who  wouldn't  hoe  corn, 
The  reason  why  I  cannot  tell 
For  this  young  man  was  always  well. 

11.  Chewing  Gum.    A  girl  chews  gum  at  the  gate  Sunday 
nights,  at  a  ball,  and  when  the  parson  is  about  to  "tie  the  knot". 

I  ran  away  and  left  her 

And  went  upon  a  bum, 
I  swore  I'd  never  marry  a  girl 

Who  was  fond  of  chewing  gum. 

12.  A  Measly  Shame.     Bill  Bailey  falls  out  with  his  lady 
friend,  and  departs,  slamming  the  door.     He  returns  later,  but 
is  not  readmitted. 

Ain't  that  a  shame,  a  measly  shame, 
To  keep  your  honey  out  in  the  rain! 

13.  The  Charming  Young  Widow  I  Met  on  the  Train. 

The  narrator  goes  to  the  city  from  the  country,  on  the  death  of 
his  uncle,  and  has  adventures  on  the  way. 

Beware  of  young  widows  who  ride  on  the  railway, 
Who  dress  in  deep  mourning,  whose  tears  fall  like  rain, 
Look  out  for  your  pockets,  in  case  they  resemble 
The  charming  young  widow  I  met  on  the  train. 


XXII.    HUMOROUS  SONGS 

These  songs  are  related  to  the  preceding  group  but  are  lyrical 
rather  than  narrative. 

1.  HI  Not  Marry  at  All.    A  girl  will  not  marry  a  rich  man 
because  he'll  "get  drunk  and  fall  in  a  ditch",  nor  a  poor  man 
because  he'll  go  begging,  nor  a  man  who  chews,  nor  a  man  who 
smokes. 

I'm  determined  to  live  an  old  maid, 
I'll  take  my  stool  and  sit  in  the  shade, 
And  I'll  not  marry  at  all,  at  all, 
And  I'll  not  marry  at  all. 

2.  Jerry  Go  Oil  the  Car.     Memories  of  a  railroad  section 
boss  named  Sullivan. 

"I  made  it  a  point  to  keep  up  the  joint 
By  the  aid  of  the  tamp  and  the  bar; 
And  while  the  boys  am  trimming  up  the  ties 
Have  Jerry  go  oil  the  car." 


60   [144]  NEBRASKA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

3.  Why  Can't  I  Have  a  Beau?     The  speaker   complains 
that  though  she  is  nearly  seventeen,  her  father  will  not  yet  let 
her  "have  a  beau." 

"Why  can't  I  have  a  beau,  I'm  sure  I'd  like  to  know? 
I  think  it  wrong  to  wait  so  long,  Why  can't  I  have  a  beau? 

4.  My  Old   Beau.     The  speaker  professes  indifference  at 
having  lost  him. 

If  he  has  gone,  let  him  go,  let  him  sink  or  let  him  swim; 
If  he  doesn't  care  for  me  I'm  sure  I  don't  for  him. 

5.  Missouri.    The  singer  boasts  that  he  could  write  a  "sizz 
ling  crackerjack"  of  a  song;  but  that  first  "you  will  have  to  show 
that  thousand  plunks  to  me". 

O  Missouri,  O  Missouri,  the  news  has  reached  my  ears, 

That  you  want  a  vocal  number  hot  and  strong, 

That  will  waft  your  fame  and  glory  to  the  circumambient  spheres, 

And  you'll  pay  a  thousand  dollars  for  the  song. 

6.  The  Bed  Bug.    The  last  line,  or  refrain  line,  persisted  for 
a  while  in  popular  slang. 

The  beetle  has  his  crown  of  gold, 
The  fire  bug  has  his  flame, 
The  bed  bug  has  no  flame  or  crown, 
But  he  gets  there  just  the  same. 

7.  Don't  Stay  After  Ten.    A  girl  requests  her  lover  not  to 
stay  after  ten  when  he  next  comes  to  see  her,  since  his  staying 
brings  threats  from  her  father. 

O  don't  stay  after  ten, 
0  don't  stay  after  ten, 
But  come  again  my  darling, 
And  don't  stay  after  ten. 

8.  The  Birdies'  Ball.    The  various  birds  come  to  take  part 
in  a  ball,  participating  according  to  their  several  characteristics. 

Spring  once  said  to  the  nightingale 

I  mean  to  give  you  birds  a  ball; 

Pray,  madame,  ask  the  birdies  all, 

The  birds  and  the  birdies,  great  and  small. 

Compare  "The  Butterfly's  Ball"  by  T.  Roscoe. 

9.  Tippecanoe  and  Tyler.      Old  political   campaign  song. 

Oh,  what  has  caused  this  great  commotion,  motion, 

Our  country  through? 

It  is  the  ball  that's  rolling  on, 

For  Tippecanoe  and  Tyler  too. 


FOLK-SONG  OF  NEBRASKA  [145]   61 

10.  Little  Brown  Jug.    A  farmer's  praise  of  the  jug  he  takes 
under  his  arm  when  he  goes  to  work. 

"My  wife  and  I  lived  all  alone, 

In  a  little  log  hut  we  called  our  own, 
She  loved  gin  and  I  loved  rum, 

And  I'll  tell  you  what  we  had  lots  of  fun." 

By  Eastburn.    Copyright  by  J.  E.  Winner,  1869. 

11.  Keep  More  Than  One  String  to  Your  Bow.     The 

speaker  warns  her  hearers  that  young  men  are  inconstant  and 
that  it  is  wiser  to  have  "more  than  one  string  to  your  bow". 

Come  all  ye  pretty  young  damsels 

Who  are  to  love  inclined, 
Young  man  are  false  and  fickle 

And  wavering  as  the  wind. 

12.  I  Will  Tell  You  of  a   Fellow,  (Bill).     He  comes  one 
night  to  woo  the  speaker.     She  disparages  him  in  various  ways, 
but  decides  at  the  end  that  she  will  have  him. 

I  will  tell  you  of  a  fellow, 

Of  a  fellow  I  have  seen, 

Who  was  neither  white  nor  yellow, 

Nor  was  altogether  green. 

Chorus:    With  my  life  alure  a  lickem, 
With  my  life  alure  alem. 

13.  Evalina.     Way  down  in  Green  Hollow  lives  Evalina. 
The  speaker's  engagement  to  her  may  last  forever,  since  in  the 
three  years  which  have  gone  by  he  has  not  earned  a  dollar. 

Dear  Evalina,  sweet  little  dove, 

She's  the  pride  of  the  valley,  and  the  girl  that  I  love. 

A  popular  college  song. 

14.  O  Mr.  Captain,  Stop  the  Ship.     Theme  indicated  by 
the  chorus. 


Hire,  hire,  O  hire  a  cab,  and  take  me  home  again. 

15.  "Railroad  Song".     Fragment. 

I  went  down  on  Number  Six 

For  to  get  my  jawbone  fixed, 

Hung  my  jawbone  on  the  fence, 

Ain't  seen  nothin'  of  my  jawbone  sence. 


62   [146]  NEBRASKA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

16.  Sleighing  with  the  Girls.     Theme  indicated  by  the 
first  stanza. 

Get  on  your  Sunday  fixings  and  neatly  brush  your  hair, 
With  a  fancy  horse  and  cutter  drive  around  for  a  lady  fair. 

17.  O  My  Heart  Goes  Pit-a-Pat.    The  symptoms  of  being  in 
love  are  described. 

Both  our  hearts  go  pit-a-pat;  both  our  brains  go  whirlygig, 
Both  our  brows  throb  rubadub,  and  match  each  other  nicely. 

18.  My  Brother,  O  My  Brother.    Several  stanzas  of  ironical 
eulogy. 

Who  was  it  taught  me  how  to  skate, 
And  left  me  on  the  ice  to  wait, 
While  he  went  home  for  Cousin  Kate? 
My  brother,  0  my  brother! 

Compare  "My  Sister,"  in  Young  Folk's  Readings,  ed.  by  L. 
B.  Monroe,  1876. 

19.  Putti    x  on  the  Style.    Humorous  references  to  a  young 
man  who  is  pass.ng,  to  a  preacher,  to  "sweet  sixteen",  to  a  country 
youth  and  maiden,  etc. 

Putting  on  the  agony,  putting  on  the  style, 

Just  what  so  many  people  are  doing  all  the  while. 

20.  Grandma's  Advice  is  to  beware  of  all  false  young  men. 
The  first  who  came  a-courting  was  young  Johnny  Green;    the 
second  young  Ellis  Grove. 

Thinks  I  to  myself  there's  some  mistake, 

What  a  fuss  these  old  folks  do  make, 

If  the  boys  and  the  girls  had  all  been  so  afraid, 

Grandmamma  herself  would  have  died  an  old  maid. 

21.  Dutchman,    Dutchman,    Won't    You    Marry    Me? 

asks  a  girl.  He  answers  that  he  has  no  shoes  to  put  on,  then  that 
he  has  no  coat,  then  that  he  has  no  hat.  When  she  has  brought 
these  he  asks — 

How  could  I  marry  such  a  pretty  little  girl 
When  I  have  one  wife  to  home? 

Compare  "Soldier,  Soldier,  Won't  You  Marry  Me?"  in 
NewelFs  Games  and  Songs  of  American  Children,  p.  93.  New 
York,  1903. 


FOLK-SONG  OF  NEBRASKA  [147]  63 

XXIII.      NEGRO    OR    PSEUDO-NEGRO    SONGS 

The  songs  of  this  group  deal  with  negro  life  or  purport  to 
come  from  negro  speakers. 

1.  The  Sorrows  of  Yamba.    Yamba  was  born  in  St.  Lucy's 
isle  and  still  loves  Africa.    She  was  carried  away  with  her  child 
from  home  and  husband,  with  hundreds  more,  on  a  slave  ship; 
she  is  made  to  dance  and  to  suffer  at  the  beck  of  her  captors. 

In  groaning  passed  the  night, 

And  did  roll  my  aching  head, 
At  the  break  of  morning  light, 

For  my  child  was  cold  and  dead. 

2.  I'se   Going   from   the   Cotton   Field.     A   darkey  has 
sold  his  cabin  and  patch  of  ground,  and  expects  to  leave  the  place 
where  he  was  born  and  bred  and  to  go  to  find  work  in  Kansas. 

I  don't  know  how  I'll  find  it  dere, 

But  I  is  going  to  try; 
So  when  the  sun  goes  down  tonight 

I'se  going  to  say  goodbye. 

3.  The  Little  Old  Log  Cabin  in  the  Lane.    Memories  of 
happy  times  with  the  darkies  and  the  banjo;  but  these  days  are 
past. 

Oh,  the  only  friend  that's  left  me 

Is  that  little  boy  of  mine, 
In  the  little  old  log  cabin  in  the  lane. 

For  the  relation  of  this  song  to  "The  Little  Old  Sod  Shanty" 
(VII.  4),  see  Modern  Language  Notes,  January  1914. 

4.  Wake,  Nicodemus.  Theme  indicated  in  the  first  stanza. 

Nicodemus  the  slave  was  of  African  birth 

And  was  bought  for  a  bagful  of  gold, 
He  was  reckoned  as  part  of  the  salt  of  the  earth 

But  he  died  years  ago  very  old. 

The  words  and  music  of  this  song  are  by  Henry  C.  Work. 

5.  Mary  and  Martha.     Religious  Song. 

Mary  and  a-Martha's  just  gone  along, 
Mary  and  a-Martha's  just  gone  along, 
Mary  and  a-Martha's  just  gone  along 
To  ring  those  charming  bells. 

6.  Swing  Low,  Sweet  Chariot.    Religious  Song. 

Swing  low,  sweet  chariot, 
Swing  low,  sweet  chariot, 
Coming  for  to  carry  me  home. 

Printed  as  a  "Slave  Hymn"  in  the  Franklin  Square  Collection 
of  Poetry  and  Song,  vol.  3.  (1885). 


64   [148]  NEBRASKA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

7.  The  Gum-Tree  Canoe,   The  Tombigbee  River.     On 

the  Tombigbee  river  the  speaker  first  met  Julia  and  rowed  her 
in  his  Gum-Tree  Canoe. 

Singing  row  away,  row,  o'er  the  waters  so  blue 
Like  a  feather  we'll  float  in  my  gum-tree  canoe. 

By  S.  S.  Steel. 

8.  Ole  Sukey  Blueskin.    Fragment. 

Ole  Sukey  Blueskin  tinks  heap  o'  me. 


She  'vite  me  down  to  her  house  to  take  a  cup  o'  tea. 
What  you  tink  Suke  and  I  had  for  suppah? 

Possum-foot  and  hominy  widout  any  buttah. 

From  "Zip  Coon"  by  G.  W.  Dixon.       See  Minstrel  Songs, 
Oliver  Ditson,  p.  120. 

9.  My  Pete.     The  speaker  praises  Pete  and  his  attentions 
to  her. 

My  Pete  he  is  but  ten-feet  tall, 
He  is  a  gem  of  a  niggah 

Chorus:    Did  you  know  dat?    Did  you  know  dat? 
Did  you  know  dat,  now  I  ax  you? 
O  darky  dear,  did  you  know  dat? 
Did  you  know  dat,  now  I  ax  you? 

10.  Fragment. 

You  may  bury  my  body  in  the  e-e-east, 

You  may  bury  my  body  in  the  west, 

You  may  bury  my  body  in  the  new  buryin'  groun' 

Fo'  my  soul's  foun'  a  hidin'  place. 

Compare  H.  E.  Krehbiel,  Afro-American  Folk  Songs,  1914, 
p.  31. 

11.  Nellie  Ely.    Reported  by  one  contributor  as  "sung  in 
lumber  camps";  by  another  as  a  "negro  melody". 

Nellie  Ely  shuts  her  eye  when  she  goes  to  sleep; 
When  she  wakens  up  again  her  eyes  begin  to  peep. 

Hi,  Nelly,  Ho,  Nelly,  listen  unto  me, 

I'll  sing  for  you,  I'll  play  for  you  a  dolce  melody. 

The  words  and  music  of  this  (minstrel)  song  are  by  Stephen 
C.  Foster. 

12.  Kingdom  Coming.    "Old  Massa"  has  run  away.    He 
"seen  a  smoke"  up  the  river  "where  the  Linkum  gunboats" 
lay. 


FOLK-SONG  OF  NEBRASKA  [149]   65 

De  massa  run,  ha!  ha! 
De  darkey  stay,  ho!  ho! 
It  must  be  now  de  kingdom  comin' 
An'  de  year  of  Jubilo. 

The  words  and  music  of  this  song  are  by  H.  C.  Work. 

13.  Kitty  Wells.    The  singer  grieves  for  his  dead  sweetheart. 

You  ask  what  makes  this  darky  weep 
Why  he  like  others  am  not  gay — 

14.  Lucy  Long.     Fragment. 

I  axed  her  for  to  marry,  to  this  she  gave  consent, 
So  down  to  Deacon  Snowball's  this  darkey  and  Lucy  went; 
So  take  your  time,  Miss  Lucy,  take  your  time  Miss  Lucy  Long, 
Take  your  time  Miss  Lucy,  take  your  time  Miss  Lucy  Long. 

For  a  text  of  this  song,  see  Minstrel  Songs,  Oliver  Ditson,  p. 
140.  Words  in  The  Great  Republic  Songster,  p.  112.  The  original 
"Lucy  Long"  was  E.  P.  Christy. 

15.  Ella  Ree.    Regrets  of  a  freed  slave. 

Then  carry  me  back  to  Tennessee 

Back  where  I  long  to  be, 
Among  the  fields  of  yellow  corn 

To  my  darling  Ella  Ree. 

See  Ellie  Rhee,  by  Sep.  Winner  (Alice  Hawthorne).    1865. 

16.  Under    the    Cocoanut    Tree.      Three    stanzas.      The 
speaker  falls  out  with  her  lover  because  she  saw  him  walking 
with  another  girl. 

Me  and  my  beau  had  a  fallin'  out, 
Me  and  my  beau  had  a  fallin'  out, 
Me  and  my  beau  had  a  fallin'  out, 
Under  the  cocoanut  tree. 

17.  O  Babe,  My  Home  is  on  the  Bayou.    Three  stanzas  of 
three  lines,  one  line  being  repeated  for  each  stanza.    The  second 
has  "0  babe,  I'm  six  bits  in  your  dollar",  and  the  third  has 

O  babe,  I'm  climbin'  o'er  de  mountain, 
O  babe,  I'm  climbin'  o'er  de  mountain, 
O  babe,  I'm  climbin'  o'er  de  mountain. 

18.  Lorena.    In  old  plantation  days  the  speaker  had  courted 
and  married  Lorena.    One  day  she  was  sold  as  a  slave  to  Virginia, 
where  later  she  dies. 

O  Lorena,  dear  Lorena, 

Won't  you  come,  come,  come,  again  to  me! 


66  [150]  NEBRASKA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

19.  A  Little  More  Cider.    The  singer  loves  Miss  Snpwflake, 
whom  he  first  met  on  Broadway,  and  calls  the  "apple  of  his  soul". 

O,  a  little  more  cider  too,  a  little  more  cider  too, 

A  little  more  cider  for  Miss  Dinah,  a  little  more  cider  too. 

20.  Gwine  to  Run    All  Night,  or  De  Camptown  Races. 

Humorous  references  to  the  races,  and  the  speaker's  winnings  B 

Gwine  to  run  all  night!    Gwine  to  run  all  day! 

I'll  bet  my  money  on  de  bob-tail  nag — somebody  bet  on  de  bay. 

Words  and  music  by  Stephen  C.  Foster. 


XXIV.    SONGS  DEALING  WITH  INDIAN  MATERIAL 

The  songs  of  this  group  involve  stories  of,  or  references  to, 
the  American  Indians. 

1.  An   Indian   Legend.     An  Indian's  daughter  has  been 
chosen  by  lot  to  go  over  the  falls.    Her  father  goes  with  her  and 
they  meet  death. 

For  the  laws  of  tradition  had  taught  them 
That  one  of  their  number  each  year 
By  lot  should  be  chosen  and  brought  there 
To  go  o'er  the  falls  without  fear. 

2.  Uncle  Tohido,  The  Aged  Indian.    A  white  man  built  a 
cabin  in  the  depth  of  the  forest.    An  aged  Indian  carries  off  his 
child  to  "live  forever  in  his  wigwam".     She  teaches  him  to 
read  the  Bible  and  pray,  and  he  teaches  her  to  tie  and  weave 
baskets. 

The  white  man  early  one  morning 

To  a  distant  town  had  gone, 
Leaving  his  wife  and  Ida 

There  in  the  woods  alone. 

3.  Pretty  Maumee,  The  Pretty  Mohea.     A  white  man  is 
wooed  by  an  Indian  maiden,  but  says  that  he  has  plighted  his 
faith  in  his  native  country.    They  part  and  he  returns  home, 
yet  acknowledges  that — 

But  all  that  surround  me 

And  all  that  I  see, 
There's  none  to  compare  with 

The  Pretty  Maumee. 

4.  Falling  Leaves,  IX,  3,  1. 

5.  Texas  Rangers.    VII,  13. 


FOLK-SONG  OP  NEBRASKA  [151]  67 

XXV.     SONGS  OF  FAMILIAR  LITERARY  ORIGIN 

The  pieces  of  this  group  were  popular  drawing-room  songs 
in  the  nineteenth  century.  The  music  is  by  well-known  com 
posers.  They  were  found  alongside  the  cruder  pieces,  all  thought 
of  their  origin  being  lost. 

1.  The   Maid  of  the  Dismal  Swamp.     Thomas  Moore's 
poem  of  that  name. 

They  made  her  a  grave  too  cold  and  damp 

For  a  heart  so  loving  and  true, 
And  she's  gone  to  the  lake  of  the  Dismal  Swamp, 
Where  all  night  long  by  a  firefly  lamp 

She  paddles  her  white  canoe. 

2.  "Ossian's   Serenade",    (The   Burman   Lover).    Words, 
except  for  the  first  line,  from  Moore's  Lalla  Rookh.    Music  by 
Ossian  E.  Dodge.     Text  in  Franklin  Square  Library  of  Poetry 
and  Song  (1887),  vol.  4,  p.  113. 

Then  come  with  me  and  be  my  bride, 
I'll  chase  the  antelope  over  the  plain 
And  the  tiger's  cub  I'll  bind  with  a  chain, 
The  wild  gazelle  with  its  silver  feet, 
I'll  give  thee  for  a  playmate  sweet. 

3.  I  Stood  on  the  Bridge  at  Midnight.   Fragment  giving 
three  stanzas  and  part  of  a  fourth  of  Longfellow's  poem. 

How  often,  oh  how  often 
I  have  wished  that  mubbling  tide 
Would  bear  me  away  on  its  bossom 
O'er  the  ocean  wild  and  wide. 

4.  The  One-Hoss  Shay.    Fragment  of  0.  W.  Holmes'  poem 
of  that  name. 

Have  you  heard  of  the  wonderful  one-horse-shay 
That  was  built  in  such  a  logical  way 
It  ran  a  hundred  yards  to  a  day? 

5."  Backward,  Turn  Backward.  The  "Rock  Me  to  Sleep, 
Mother",  of  Elizabeth  Akers  Allen  (Florence  Percy).  Music 
for  this  song  was  copyrighted  by  Ernest  Leslie  in  1860. 

Backward,  turn  backward,  0  time,  in  thy  flight, 
Make  me  a  child  again  just  for  tonight. 

6.  All  Quiet  on  the  Potomac.  This  piece,  sung  sometimes 
at  gatherings  of  old  soldiers,  is  "The  Picket  Guard  by  Ethel 
Lynn  Beers.  It  was  written  about  1862. 

All  quiet  along  the  Potomac,  they  say, 
Except  now  and  then  a  stray  picket 
Is  shot  as  he  walks  on  his  beat  to  and  fro 

By  a  rifleman  hid  in  the  thicket. 
By  some  the  authorship  is  ascribed  to  Thaddeus  Oliver. 


68  [152]  NEBRASKA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

7.  Enoch  Arden,  Goodbye,  Annie  Darling.  Song  based 
on  Tennyson's  poem. 

Goodbye,  Anna  darling,  break  off  from  your  sorrow, 
Tis  sad  that  our  parting  must  be; 
I'll  sail  the  seas  over,  I'll  cross  the  wide  ocean, 
I'll  sail  the  seas  over  for  thee. 

See  also  "Little  Em'ly",  XVII,  5;  XXI,  8,  etc. 

XXVI.    MOVEMENT  SONGS 

The  songs  of  this  group  are  either  occupational  songs,  as  the 
cobbler  pieces,  in  which  the  singer  goes  through  the  motions  of 
cobbling,  or  are  dancing  songs. 

1.  Dick  Turpin.    A  cobbler  song.    See  also  II,  5. 

They  call  me  Dick  Turpin  the  cobbler, 
I  served  out  my  time  up  in  Kent, 
They  call  me  an  old  perpetrator, 
But  now  I  am  going  to  repent. 

Chorus:    With  a  whang-yang-yang-fol-di-de-do, 

With  a  whang-yang-yang-fol-di-day,  etc. 

2.  I  Am  a  Cobbler  Bold. 

I  am  a  cobbler  bold, 
I  dote  on  mending, 
My  wife  is  poor  and  old, 
On  me  depending. 

Chorus:    Li-fol-de-diddle-oh 
Li-fol-di-day. 

3.  I    Have   a    Fellow.      Sung  when  barn-dancing,  cowboy 
fashion.    The  speaker  tells  her  mother  that  she  has  "a  fellow  but 
don't  you  tell  paw";   then  that  they  are  engaged;   that  he  has 
brought  her  a  ring;    that  the  people  are  invited;    finally  that 
"now  we  are  married,  and  you  can  tell  paw". 

I  have  a  fellow,  I  have,  mamma, 
I  have  a  fellow,  I  have,  mamma, 
I  have  a  fellow,  but  don't  you  tell  paw". 

4.  Drunken  Sailor.    Sung  while  going  through  a  sort  of  reel. 

What  shall  we  do  with  a  drunken  sailor? 
What  shall  we  do  with  a  drunken  sailor? 
What  shall  we  do  with  a  drunken  sailor? 
Put  him  in  a  steamboat,  etc. 

5.  Captain  Jenks.    Dancing  song. 

I'm  Captain  Jenks  of  the  horse  marine, 
I  feed  my  horse  on  corn  and  beans, 
Although  it's  quite  beyond  my  means, 
For  I'm  captain  of  the  army. 


FOLK-SONG  OF  NEBRASKA  [153]  69 

XXVII.     MISCELLANEOUS  SONGS  AND   FRAGMENTS 

These  pieces  are  grouped  together  for  convenience.  Many 
were  too  incomplete  for  their  character  to  be  readily  distinguish 
able. 

1.  [Song  of  the  War  of  1812]. 

Then  you  sent  out  your  Boxer  to  beat  us  all  about, 
We  had  an  enterprising  brig  that  beat  the  Boxer  out, 
Then  towed  her  up  to  Portland  and  moved  her  off  the  town 
To  show  the  Sons  of  Liberty  the  Boxer  of  renown. 

2.  [Sailor  Boy].     A  girl  asks  her  mother  to  build  her  a  boat, 
"And  every  ship  that  I  pass  by,  I  will  inquire  for  my  sailor  boy". 

0  mother,  mother  build  me  a  boat 

O  build  it  long  and  narrer, 
And  o'er  the  ocean  I  will  float 

To  my  true  love  tomorrer. 

3.  Fragment. 

Dark  and  gloomy  was  the  morning, 
Burke  was  ordered  out  to  die 


We'll  stand  by  you  gallant  captain, 
Till  we  conquer  or  we  die. 

This  seems  to  come  from  "James  Bird,"  the  ballad  of  a  hero 
of  1812,  shot  for  desertion,  and  might  be  grouped  under  X. 

4.  Fragment. 

He  split  the  door  in  pieces  four 

The  locks  he  made  to  shudder, 
He  took  his  love  by  the  lily  white  hand 

And  through  the  rooms  he  led  her. 

5.  The  Spanish  Cabiner.    Variant  of  the  well-known  college 
song  "The  Spanish  Cavalier",  copyrighted  by  Leo  Feist. 

The  Spanish  Cabiner  stood  under  a  tree 
And  on  his  gautar  played  a  tone,  dear, 
And  music  so  sweet  I  often  repeat, 
Remember  what  I  say  and  be  true,  dear. 

6.  Fragment. 

Chase  the  rabbit,  chase  the  coon, 
Chase  the  pretty  girl  round  the  moon, 
Chase  her  there  and  back  again, 
Rest  your  feet  in  an  oyster  can. 

7.  Fragment.     In  the  chorus  the  speaker  declares  his  in 
tention  to  go  to  Louisiana  to  see  his  Susie  Anna. 

Grasshopper  sittin'  on  a  railroad  track 
Singin'  polly  wolly  doodle  all  the  day, 
Pickin'  his  teeth  with  a  carpet  tack 
Singin'  polly  wolly  doodle  all  the  day. 

A  popular  college  or  glee  club  song. 


70  [154]  NEBRASKA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

8.  Pharaoh's  Daughter. 

Pharaoh's  daughter  on  the  bank, 
Little  Moses  in  the  pool, 
She  fished  him  out  with  a  telegraph  pole, 
And  sent  him  along  to  school, 
Singing  tra,  la  la  la  la  lidy-whoo. 

From  the  college  song,  "The  Bull-Dog". 

9.  The  Little  Robin.    A  young  man  passes  with  his  gun  and 
shoots  the  robin. 

There  came  to  my  window  one  morning  in  spring 
A  sweet  little  robin,  he  came  there  to  sing; 
And  the  song  that  he  sang  me  was  worthier  by  far 
Than  ever  was  played  on  a  flute  or  guitar. 

10.  Beautiful  Bird  of  Spring,  Come,  Birdie,  Come. 

Beautiful  bird  of  spring  has  come 
Seeking  a  place  to  build  her  home, 
Warbling  her  song  so  light  and  free, 
Beautiful  bird  come  live  with  me. 

11.  Lavender. 

Light  my  bosom,  light  my  heart, 
I  can  smile  at  Cupid's  dart; 

I  keep  myself,  my  sister,  brother, 

And  only  care  to  sell  my  lavender; 

Ladies  try  it,  gentlemen  buy  it, 

Come,  come,  buy  my  lavender. 

A  text  of  "The  Lavender  Girl",  is  printed  in  The  Southern 
and  Western  Songster,  p.  233.  Philadelphia,  1839. 

12.  Fragment. 

I  had  four  brothers  who  lived  over  the  sea 
And  each  sent  a  present  unto  me, 
Parta  quartum  pera  de 

Centum  pera  werre  dictum  domine. 

The  first  sent  a  chicken  without  any  bones, 
One  sent  me  cherries  without  any  stones. 

Compare  a  fifteenth  century  song  in  Wright's  Songs  and  Carols 
(Percy  Society),  and  a  nursery  rhyme  ("The  Four  Sisters") 
in  HalliwelFs  Popular  Rhymes  and  Nursery  Tales,  p.  150.  There 
seems  also  to  be  some  slight  relationship  to  "Captain  Wedder- 
burn's  Courtship "  (Child,  46). 

13.  Fragment. 

Mr.  Brown  was  a  fine  young  man, 

On  whom  the  ladies  dote 
He  sat  right  down  in  the  frying  pan 

And  burned  his  best  Sunday  coat. 


FOLK-SONG  OF  NEBRASKA  [155]  71 

14.  To  Rowser's. 

We'll  all  go  down  to  Rowser's,  to  Rowser's,  to  Rowser's, 
We'll  all  go  down  to  Rowser's,  for  there  they  keep  the  beer. 

15.  [The  Returned].     A  child  tells  her  father  that  three 
beautiful  angels  came  to  her  room 

As  I  lay  on  my  pillow  with  half-closed  eyes 
I  heard  a  sweet  sound  from  the  sparkling  skies, 
And  while  I  lay  wondering  what  it  could  mean 
Mother,  Mary,  and  Willie  came  gliding  in. 

16.  Pop  Goes  the  Weasel.    Verse  said  or  sung  apropos  of  the 
spending  of  money  in  small  quantities  here  and  there. 

First  she  buys  a  spool  of  thread, 
Then  she  buys  a  needle, 
That's  the  way  the  money  goes, 
Pop  goes  the  weasel. 

17.  Bob  Ingersoll.     Fragment. 

Bob  Ingersoll  has  left  this  earth 

And  gone  far  far  away; 
He'll  be  the  cause  of  lots  of  mirth 

When  he's  far  far  away. 

18.  Beautiful  Star.    Song  now  best  known  through  Lewis 
Carroll's  parody  in  Alice  in  Wonderland.    Words  and  melody 
by  James  M.  Sayles. 

Beautiful  star,  beautiful  star, 
Star  of  the  evening,  beautiful  star. 

19.  Sweet  Fields  of  Violo.     Song  in  which  the  cries  of 
animals  are  imitated. 

A  gee  ho  here  and  a  gee  ho  there, 

Here  gee-a,  there  gee-a  and 

O  pretty  maidens,  won't  you  come  and  go  with  me 

To  the  sweet  fields  of  Violo. 

Compare  the  college  song  "My  Grandfather  Has  Some  Very 
Fine  Ducks". 

20.  Twenty   Froggies   Went   to   School.     Three  stanzas. 
Mr.  Bull  Frog  is  the  teacher.    The  last  stanza  is 

Twenty  froggies  grew  up  fast,  big  frogs  they  became  at  last, 
Not  one  dunce  among  the  lot,  not  one  lesson  they  forgot. 

21.  I  Went  to  the  Animal  Fair.    Fragment. 

I  went  to  the  animal  fair, 
The  birds  and  the  beasts  were  there, 
The  big  raccoon  by  the  light  of  the  moon 
Was  combing  his  golden  hair. 


72   [156]  NEBRASKA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

22.  The  Wandering  Refugee.    Fragment. 

O  mother  I  must  leave  you  now, 
For  I'm  a  wandering  refugee. 

23.  Fragment. 

I'll  go  the  reaper 

If  you'll  go  the  binder, 

I've  got  a  pretty  girl 

And  don't  know  where  to  find  her. 

Compare  "Who'll  Be  Binder?"  in  Newell's  Songs  and  Games 
of  American  Children. 

24.  I  Went  Down  Town.    Fragment. 

Shanghai  chickens,  they  grow  tall. 

In  a  few  days,  in  a  few  days. 
The  days  grow  shorter  in  the  fall, 

And  a  doo  da  doo  da  dey. 

Probably  from  XXIII,  20. 

25.  The  Boy  and  the  Bird.    A  little  boy  went  out  to  shoot 
with  his  bow  and  arrow.    He  sees  a  little  bird  on  a  cherry  tree. 

The  little  boy  drew  up  his  bow  to  his  eye 

And  aimed  it  right  for  a  while. 

The  little  bird  laughed  and  away  he  did  fly, 

A  miss  is  as  good  as  a  mile. 

Coo,  coo;  coo,  coo;  coo,  coo;  coo,  coo;  coo,  coo;  coo,  coo. 

Compare  "The  Little  Cock  Sparrow",  The  Southern  and  West 
ern  Songster,  Phil.  1839,  p.  256. 

26.  Fragment. 

Shew  li,  shew  li,  shew  li,  coo, 
Shew  li,  chicker  rackie,  shew  li  coo, 
When  I  saw  Miss  Sallie  Allie  Yew 
Come  bibilicia  bushi  lury. 

Now  my  lover's  gone  to  France 

To  seek  a  fortune  in  advance; 

And  when  he  comes  we'll  have  a  little  dance, 

Come  bibilicia  bushi  lury. 

27.  Fragment. 

Some  people  say  that  niggahs  don't  steal, 

But  I  caught  three  in  my  cornfield; 
One  had  a  basket  and  one  had  a  bell, 

And  the  other  little  niggah  was  runnin'  like  hell. 
Chorus: 

Pomonah  and  you  shall  be  free, 
In  the  mornin'  you  shall  be  free, 
In  the  evenin'  you  shall  be  free, 

When  the  good  Lord  calls  you  home. 

From  a  college  or  glee  club  song,  "Poor  Mourner." 


FOLK-SONG  OF  NEBRASKA  [157]  73 

XXVIII.    SINGING  GAMES 

The  songs  of  this  group  are  playtime  songs,  used  in  games  of 
various  types. 

1.  The  Needle's  Eye. 

The  needle's  eye  it  doth  supply 
The  thread  that  runs  so  true. 

2.  Go  In  and  Out  of  the  Window. 

Go  in  and  out  of  the  window, 
Go  in  and  out  of  the  window, 
Go  in  and  out  of  the  window, 
For  we  have  gained  the  day. 

3.  Four  Ducks  a-Roving. 

Here  come  four  ducks  a-roving, 
In  rancy,  tancy,  tay. 

4.  Skip  to  Maloo,  Skip  to  My  Lou. 

Rats  in  the  meal  barrel,  shoo,  shoo,  shoo, 
Skip  to  Maloo,  my  darling. 

5.  Miller  Boy. 

Happy  is  the  miller  boy  that  lives  by  the  mill, 
The  wheel  goes  around  with  a  right  good  will, 
One  hand  in  the  hopper,  the  other  in  the  sack, 
The  lady  steps  forward  and  the  gent  falls  back. 

6.  Old  Dan  Tucker. 

Old  Dan  Tucker's  now  in  town, 
Swing  the  ladies  all  around, 
First  on  your  right  and  then  on  your  left, 
Then  to  the  girl  that  you  love  best. 

For  a  text  of  the  "celebrated  banjo  song",  "Old  Dan  Tucker" 
(composed  by  "Old  Dan"  Emmett),  see  Minstrel  Songs,  Oliver 
Ditson,  p.  150. 

7.  We've  Come  to  see  Miss  Jennie  Jones. 

We've  come  to  see  Miss  Jennie  Jones, 
And  how  is  she  today? 

8.  We'll  Take  Miss  Irma  Brown. 

We'll  take  Miss  Irma  Brown,  Brown,  Brown 
We'll  take  Miss  Irma  Brown 
In  ransee  tansee  tay. 


74  [158]  NEBRASKA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

9.  Susie  Brown. 

Choose  your  love  as  you  go  round 

I  love  my  Susie  Brown, 
Change  and  swing  as  you  go  round, .... 

I  love  my  Susie  Brown. 

10.  Pig  in  the  Parlor. 

Oh  we've  got  a  new  pig  in  the  parlor 
And  he  is  Irish  too. 

11.  Water,  Water,  White  Flower. 

Water,  water,  white  flower, 
Growing  up  so  high, 
We  are  all  young  ladies, 
Expecting  short  to  die. 

12.  Mulberry  Bush. 

Here  we  go  round  the  mulberry  bush, 
So  early  in  the  morning. 

13.  Green  Gravel,  Green  Gravel. 

Green  gravel,  green  gravel,  the  grass  is  so  green, 
And  all  the  fair  maidens  ashamed  to  be  seen. 

14.  Farmer  in  the  Dell. 

Farmer's  in  the  dell,  farmer's  in  the  dell. 
High  oh,  a-cherry  oh,  farmer's  in  the  dell. 

15.  Itiskit,  Itaskit.     (Drop  the  Handkerchief). 

Itiskit,  Itaskit 
A  green  and  yellow  basket, 
Wrote  a  letter  to  my  love 
And  on  the  way  I  dropped  it. 

16.  King  William  Was  King  James's  Son. 

King  William  was  King  James's  son, 
And  all  the  royal  race  was  run. 

17.  London  Bridge  is  Falling  Down. 

London  Bridge  is  falling  down,  falling  down,  falling  down, 
London  Bridge  is  falling  down,  my  fair  lady. 

18.  Oats  and  Beans  and  Barley. 

Oats  and  Beans  and  barley  bows, 
You  or  I  or  nobody  knows. 

19.  [Lazy  Mary].     See  XIII,  6. 

20.  Poor  Robin.     Song.     Also  singing  game.     Text  about 
the  same  as  for  "Poor  Johnny",  (XXI,  4). 


FOLK-SONG  OF  NEBRASKA  [159]  75 

21.  Old  Rover.  Singing  game,  like  preceding.  Text  much 
the  same,  except  that  "Old  Rover"  occurs  in  place  of  "Poor 
Johnny",  or  "Poor  Robin". 

XXIX.     MARCHING  SONGS 

These  songs  are,  or  were,  used  as  marching  songs  at  "Play 
Parties". 

1.  Come  Philander,  Be  a-Marching. 

Come,  Philander  be  a-marching 
Every  one  his  true-love  sarching 
Choose  your  true-love  now  or  never 
And  be  sure  you  choose  no  other, 
Tol-lal-le-lal-lal-le-la 
La-le-di-do-day. 

2.  Old  Quebec. 

We're  marching  down  to  old  Quebec. 
While  the  drums  are  loudly  beating; 
The  American  boys  have  gained  the  day, 
And  the  British  are  retreating. 


XXX     SEQUENCE  SONGS  AND  RHYMES 

This  group  includes  sequence  songs  or  rhymes,  somewhat 
resembling  the  German  Zdhllieder. 

1.  One,  Two,  Buckle  My  Shoe. 

One,  two,  buckle  my  shoe, 
Three,  four,  shut  the  door, 
Five,  six,  pick  up  sticks,  etc. 

2.  John  Brown  and  His  Little  Injuns.    This  song  is  con 
tinued  up  to  ten,  and  is  then  repeated,  counting  backward  from 
ten  to  one. 

One  little,  two  little,  three  little  Injuns, 
Four  little,  five  little,  six  little  Injuns, 
Seven  little,  eight  little,  nine  little  Injuns, 
Ten  little  Injun  boys. 

3.  Forty-nine  Blue  Bottles  a-Hanging  on  the  Wall. 

Forty-nine  blue  bottles  a-hanging  on  the  wall, 
Forty-nine  blue  bottles  a-hanging  on  the  wall, 
Take  one  bottle  from  forty-nine  blue  bottles, 
Forty-eight  blue  bottles  a-hanging  on  the  wall. 


76   [160]  NEBRASKA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

4.  There's  One  More  River  to  Cross.     The  animals  went 
in  one  by  one,  two  by  two,  three  by  three,  and  four  by  four. 

There's  one  more  river  to  cross 
Perhaps  you  think  there's  another  verse, 
But  there  ain't. 

Compare  the  college  song  "Noah's  Ark". 

XXXI.     NURSERY  RHYMES  AND  FRAGMENTS 

This  group  includes  nursery  songs  and  rhymes  and  miscellan 
eous  fragments,  or  isolated  stanzas. 

1.  The  Frog's  Courtship.     There  are  many  variants  of 
this.    One  begins 

There  was  a  frog  lived  on  a  well 

Kemo,  Komo,  Kimo; 
There  was  a  mouse  lived  in  the  mill 

Kemo,  komo,  kimo. 

For  this  Old  English  song,  see  Vincent  Cole's  English  Melodies 
from  the  XIII  to  the  XVIII  Century,  p.  32.    London,  1910. 

2.  What  Can  the  Matter  Be? 

O  dear,  what  can  the  matter  be 
Jennie's  [Johnnie's]  so  long  at  the  fair. 

3.  Hot  Cross  Buns. 

Hot  cross  buns,  hot  cross  buns, 
One-a-penny,  two  a-penny,  hot  cross  buns. 

4.  Rock-a-Bye  Baby. 

Rock-a-bye  Baby  in  the  tree  top, 

When  the  wind  blows  the  cradle  will  rock. 

5.  [To  Market  Town]. 

Here  goes  dogs  to  market  town, 
This  foot  up  and  that  foot  down, 
When  they  come  to  a  hedge  or  a  ditch 
He  puts  them  together  and  jumps  over  all. 

6.  Three  Little  Kittens. 

Three  little  kittens  they  lost  their  mittens, 
And  then  they  began  to  cry. 

7.  Pass  One  Window  Tidy  O. 

Pass  one  window  tidy  O, 
Pass  two  windows  tidy  O, . . 
Jingle,  jingle  and  away  we  go 
We'll  all  go  jingling  and  a  tidy  O. 


FOLK-SONG  OF  NEBRASKA  [161]  77 

8.  Someone's  Tall  and  Handsome. 

Someone's  tall  and  handsome, 
Someone's  kind  and  true, 
Someone's  hair  is  very  fair, 
Someone's  eyes  are  blue. 

Probably  belongs  under  XIV. 

9.  What  Care  I  for  Gold  and  Silver? 

Madam,  I  have  land  and  silver, 
Madam,  I  have  house  and  land, . . . 
What  care  I  for  gold  and  silver? — 
All  I  want  is  a  handsome  man. 

From  a  dialogue  song,  on  the  order  of  "  The  Quaker's  Court 
ship,"  (XXIII,  9). 

10.  Baby  Is  a  Sailor  Boy. 

Baby  is  a  sailor  boy, 

Swing,  cradle,  swing, 
Sailing  is  a  sailor's  joy, 

Swing,  cradle,  swing. 

From  a  song  by  George  Cooper.    See  Franklin  Square  Song 
Collection,  IV.  135. 

12.  In  Good  Old  Colony  Times.     Three  rogues  fall  into 
mishaps:  the  miller  stole  corn,  the  weaver  yarn,  and  the  tailor 
broadcloth. 

Now  the  miller  is  drowned  in  his  dam, 

And  the  weaver  got  hung  in  his  yard, 

And  the  devil  clapt  his  claws  on  the  little  tailor, 

With  the  broadcloth  under  his  arm. 

13.  Fragments. 

Lucy  Locket  lost  her  pocket, 
Kitty  Fisher  found  it; 
Nothing  in  it,  nothing  in  it, 
But  the  binding  round  it. 

Sing  a  song  of  sixpence, 
Pocket  full  of  rye, 
Four  and  twenty  blackbirds 
Baked  in  a  pie. 

Ding  dong  bell 
Pussy's  in  the  well 


78  [162]  NEBRASKA  ACADEMY  OF  SCIENCES 

XXXII.  SKIPPING  ROPE  SONGS  OR  RHYMES 

The  second  piece  of  this  group  is  used  also  as  a  flower  oracle 
or  divinatory  formula.  These  rhymes  are  not  always  sung  but 
may  be  spoken  or  chanted. 

1.  [By  the  Holy  Unchangeable  Law]. 

By  the  holy  unchangeable  law, 
I  marry  the  Indian  to  the  squaw, 
By  the  point  of  my  jack-knife 
I  pronounce  you  man  and  wife. 

2.  [Rich  Man,  Poor  Man]. 

Rich  man,  poor  man,  beggar  man,  thief, 
Doctor,  lawyer,  merchant,  chief 


APPENDIX 

CAT  CREEK  GLEE  CLUB  SONGS 

Cat  Creek  Glee  Club  Songs.  One  of  the  epochs  in  the 
history  of  Nebraska  was  the  era  of  the  farmers'  alliance  movement 
of  1890,  merging  later  in  the  Populist  Party.  This  was  the  begin 
ning  of  what  has  been  denominated  "the  political  and  social 
revolution"  in  the  west.  It  marked  the  passing  of  old  political 
lines  of  conflict,  based  upon  the  Civil  War,  and  the  commencement 
of  the  new  social  and  industrial  movement  which  is  still  in  process. 
It  was  a  period  of  white  hot  political  feeling,  intensified  by  a 
fierce  drouth  and  a  great  financial  panic  in  the  United  States. 
Throughout  Nebraska  the  political  campaign  of  1890  was  charac 
terized  by  vast  open  air  meetings  such  as  were  never  known 
before  and  have  scarcely  been  equaled  since.  In  some  places 
10,000  to  15,000  people  gathered,  mostly  from  the  farms,  and 
wagon  parades  several  miles  long  were  not  uncommon.  Orators 
of  the  common  people,  many  of  them  untrained  in  rhetoric, 
but  with  an  eloquence  and  confidence  which  knew  no  limitations, 
addressed  these  thousands  to  the  accompaniment  of  frenzied 
cheering.  Naturally  there  was  music  at  these  meetings  and  songs 
extemporized  or  adapted  from  well  known  ballads  were  sung. 
The  most  noted  group  of  singers  on  these  occasions  in  Nebraska 
was  the  "Cat  Creek  Glee  Club"  of  Custer  County.  This  Glee 
Club  consisted  of  S.  R.  Brown,  Harvey  Brown,  S.  E.  Brown  and 
Thomas  Emrick. 

The  club  possessed  fresh  strong  voices,  ready  wit,  and  soon 
became  general  favorites  at  all  the  early  farmers'  alliance  and 
Populist  gatherings.  They  sang  during  the  campaigns  of  1890 
to  1896  and  appeared,  at  the  National  Populist  Convention  held 
at  Omaha  in  1892.  It  seems  to  the  editor  of  this  series  worth 
while  to  print  in  these  pages  one  of  the  most  characteristic  of 
their  songs  and  the  one  which  never  failed  to  evoke  wild  enthusi 
asm.  Stanzas  were  improvised  besides  the  ones  here  printed  and 
both  the  tune  and  the  words  were  borrowed  and  used  by  other 
singers  throughout  Nebraska. — EDITOR. 


[163]  (79) 


80  [164]  APPENDIX 


WE'LL  MEET  YOU  BY  AND  BY 

I  have  heard  W.  V.  Allen1  preach 
And  I've  heard  O.  M.  Kern2  tell, 
There  may  be  a  place  like  Paradise, 

But  there's  no  such  a  place  as 

Hallelujah;  and  we'll  meet  you  by  and  by, 
Hallelujah;  and  we'll  meet  you  by  and  by. 

Oh,  the  campaign  is  a-coming, 

The  fact  you  all  know  well, 

The  Republicans  will  do  the  best  they  can, 

But  you'll  bet  we'll  give  'em 

Hallelujah;  and  we'll  meet  you  by  and  by. 

English  capitalists  are  a-taking  this  country, 
The  fact  you  all  know  well, 
And  the  fifth  of  next  November 

You  can  bet  we'll  give  'em, 

Hallelujah;  and  we'll  meet  you  by  and  by. 

Come  all  you  Republicans 
From  valley,  hill  and  dell, 
You'll  have  to  change  your  evil  ways 

Or  else  you're  gone  to 

Hallelujah;  and  we'll  meet  you  by  and  by. 

Come  all  you  Democrats, 
You  who  have  votes  to  sell, 
You'll  have  to  join  the  Republicans 

Or  else  you're  gone  to 

Hallelujah;  and  we'll  meet  you  by  and  by. 

Come  all  you  Prohibitionists, 
You  who  love  whiskey  well, 
You'll  have  to  join  the  Democrats 

Or  else  you're  gone  to 

Hallelujah;  and  we'll  meet  you  by  and  by. 

Oh,  the  contest  now  is  a-coming, 
The  fact  you  all  know  well, 
Monopolies  will  do  the  best  they  can, 

But  you  bet  we'll  give  'em 

Hallelujah;  and  we'll  meet  you  by  and  by. 

All  you  northern  and  southern  soldiers, 

All  you  who  do  mean  well, 

You'll  have  to  leave  the  two  old  parties 

Or  else  you're  gone  to 

Hallelujah;  and  we'll  meet  you  by  and  by. 


1  W.  V.  Allen,  Populist  United  States  senator  from  Nebraska  for  six 
years,  1893-1899. 

2  O.  M.  Kem,  a  red  headed  farmer  of  Custer  County,  living  in  a  sod  house, 
elected  Populist  congressman  from  the  third  district  in  1890  and  re-elected  in 
1892  and  1894. 


APPENDIX  [165]  81 


O.  M.  Kem,  he  is  no  Taylor,1 

He  has  no  votes  to  sell, 

But  the  very  next  man  who  sells  us  out, 

Had  better  be  in 

Hallelujah;  and  we'll  meet  you  by  and  by. 

Oh  say  now,  Billy  Bryan, 
The  fact  you  all  know  well, 
You'll  have  to  leave  the  Democrats 

Or  else  you're  gone  to 

Hallelujah;  and  we'll  meet  you  by  and  by. 

(Encore  Stanza) 
I've  sung  you  now  my  story, 
And  I  hope  I've  sung  it  well, — 
But  before  I  sing  any  more  to  you 

I'll  see  you  all  in 

Hallelujah, — and  I'll  meet  you  by  and  by. 


1  W.  M.  Taylor,  elected  on  Farmers'  Alliance  ticket  to  Nebraska  state 
senate  in  1890  from  the  district  in  which  Loup  County  is  located.  He  fled  the 
state  in  the  winter  of  1891  when  the  legislature  was  in  session  and  the  maximum 
railroad  rate  bill  was  pending.  His  vote  was  needed  to  pass  the  bill  and  it  was 
generally  believed  that  he  was  paid  several  thousand  dollars  to  "sell  out" 
and  leave  the  state. — EDITOR. 


ADDENDUM 

In  addition  to  the  contributors  named  in  the  introduction, 
grateful  acknowledgment  should  be  made  to  the  following 
persons,  each  of  whom  has  contributed  one  or  more  pieces  to 
the  Nebraska  Folk-Song  collection,  or  has  been  instrumental  in 
securing  pieces  from  others: 

Frances  Francis Cheyenne,  Wyoming. 

Mrs.  Lola  M.  Taylor Syracuse,  Nebraska. 

Harriet  Cook Gem,  Nebraska. 

S.  J.  Mason, Lincoln. 

E.  R.  Harlan Des  Moines,  Iowa 

Lucia  Saxer Mt.  Clare,  Nebraska 

Pearl  Wagey Cambridge. 

Mrs.  Ava  Shellenbarger Pawnee  City. 

L.  A.  Quivey Salt  Lake  City,  Utah. 

A.  E.  Sheldon Lincoln. 

Jane  Lindsey Hebron. 

Elizabeth  Atkins University  Place. 

Elsie  Gather Red  Cloud. 

Mrs.  N.  B.  Pickup Lincoln. 

Stella  Butler South  Omaha. 

Sarah  Thurman Oconto. 

Mrs.  H.  W.  Seeger Tabor,  Iowa. 

Winifred  Seeger Tabor,  Iowa. 

Fern  Sikes Crete. 

Grace  Munson . .  .• Lincoln. 

Adelaide  Rood Lincoln. 

Mildred  Thompson Lincoln. 

Edith  Neale Fort  Calhoun. 

Mrs.  S.  B.  Pound Lincoln. 

Ruth  Shively Lincoln. 

Florence  Grimm Lincoln. 

Alice  Hanthorne Lincoln. 

Edith  Little Pawnee  City. 

Harry  and  Fern  Gear Junction,  Wyoming. 


(82) 


INDEX 

NOTE:  Page  numbers  enclosed  in  brackets  [  ]  refer  to  the  future  bound 
volume  of  which  this  pamphlet  is  to  be  a  part. 


After  the  Ball 52 

Aged  Indian,  The 66 

Aged  Man,  The 12 

A  Home  Beyon'  the  Tide 54 

A  Light  in  the  Window 54 

A  Little  More  Cider 66 

All  Quiet  on  the  Potomac 67 

All  Smiles  Tonight 47 

A  Measly  Shame 59 

Angel,  I  Want  to  Be  an 54 

An  Indian  Legend 66 

Anna  Lee 48 

Answer  to  Do  They  Miss  Me  at 

Home 48 

A  Package  of  Old  Letters 21 

Are  We  Forgotten  When  We're 

Gone? 46 

A  Song  for  the  Girl  I  Love 45 

A  Violet  from  My  Mother's  Grave .  49 

Babes  in  the  Woods 14 

Babes,  Two 51 

Baby  Is  a  Sailor  Boy 77 

Backward,  Turn  Backward 67 

Baggage  Coach  Ahead,  The 56 

Banks  of  Cloudy,  The 16 

Barbara  Allen 9 

Barney  McCoy 16, 44 

Bayham,  Lord 9 

Beautiful  Bird  of  Spring 70 

Beaunavista  Battlefield,  On 40 

Beautiful  Star 71 

Bed  Bug,  The 60 

Bedroom  Window,  The 18 

Beggar  Girl,  The 55 

Be  Kind  to  the  Loved  Ones  at 

Home 52 

Belle  Brandon 37 

Belle  Mahone 15 

Betsy  Brown 19 

Bettie  and  the  Baby 49 

BUI 61 

Billy  Boy 15,42 

Billy  Grimes,  Courtship  of 43 


Birdie's  Ball,  The go 

Bob  Ingersoll 71 

Boston  Burglar,  The ^  34 

Bowers,  Joe 32 

Boy  and  the  Bird,  The 72 

Black  Hills,  The  Dreary ',',]  '22 

Blue  and  the  Gray,  The ' . .  39 

Brakeman's  Dream,  The 56 

Bride,  The  Village .....19 

Bridge,  I  Stood  on  the .67 

Bring  My  Harp  to  Me  Again 21 

Burglar,  The  Boston 34 

Butcher  Boy,  The is 

But  Now  it  Is  All  Gone  to  Ruin ...  12 
By  the  Holy  Unchangeable  Law.  .78 

Californian,  The  Dying 20 

Camptown  Races,  The 66 

Captain  Jenks 68 

Captain  Kidd 33 

Caroline     of     Edinboro     Town, 

Lovely 13 

Casey  Jones 55 

Cavalier,  The  Spanish 69 

Charles  Guiteau 20, 34 

Charlie's  Town 34 

Charlotte,  Young 19 

Charming  Young  Widow  I  Met  in 

the  Train,  The 59 

Chewing  Gum 59 

Cheyenne  Boys 25 

Christine  Leroy 38 

Church,  The  Model 51 

Cloudy,  The  Banks  of 16 

Cocoanut  Tree,  The 65 

Coldwater  Pledge,  The 55 

Come,  Birdie,  Come 70 

Come,  Brothers,  Gather  Round  My 

Bed 21 

Come,  Philander,  Be  a-Marching.  .75 

Constant  Farmer's  Son,  The 20 

Coolen  Bawn,  The 15 

Counting    Your    Chickens   Before 
They  Are  Hatched 13 


(83) 


84 


INDEX 


Courtship  of  Billy  Grimes,  The 43 

Cowboy,  I  Want  to  Be  a 22 

Cowboy's  Meditation,  The 26 

Cowboy,  The  Dying 26 

Crysta  Leroy 38 

Cupid's  Garden 17 

Daisy  Dean 37 

Daisies,  Sweet  Bunch  of 47 

Dakota  Land 28 

Dear  Heart,  We're  Growing  Old. .  .47 

Death  of  a  Romish  Lady,  The 14 

Death  of  Garfield,  The 41 

DickTurpin 68 

Don't  Go  Out  Tonight,  Dear 

Father 55 

Don't  Stay  After  Ten 60 

Don't  You  Go,  Tommy 53 

Do  They  Miss  Me  at  Home? 

Answer  to 48 

Down  by  the  Brook 37 

Down  on  the  Farm 49 

Dreaming  of  Home 49 

Dreary  Black  Hills,  The 22 

Drop  the  Handkerchief 74 

Drowsy  Sleeper,  The 18 

Drummers,  The  Two 53 

Drunkard's  Lone  Child,  The. .  .36,  55 

Drunken  Sailor 68 

Dublin  Bay 42 

Dutchman,  Dutchman,  Won't  You 

Marry  Me? 62 

Dying  Californian,  The 20 

Dying  Cowboy,  The 26 

Dying  Girl's  Message,  The 22 

Dying  Nun,  The 21 

Dying  Soldier,  The 40 

EllaRee 65 

Ellen,  Sweet 46 

Em'ly,  Little 52 

Enoch  Arden 68 

Evalina 61 

Every  Grove  is  Merry  in  Time 10 

Ever  to  the  Right 54 

Falling  Leaves 36,  66 

Farewell,  Mother,  I  Am  Going 40 


Farmer's  Boy,  The 13 

Farmer  in  the  Dell 74 

Fatal  Wedding,  The 19 

Fate  of  Barbara  Allen,  The 9 

Father,  Dear  Father,  Come  Home 

With  Me  Now 51 

Father  Grumble 13 

Floella,  Poor 17 

Florella,  Poor 17 

Florence  Vane 45 

Forty-Nine  Bottles 75 

Four  Ducks  a-Roving 73 

Frog's  Courtship,  The 76 

Garden  Wall,  Over  the 58 

Garfield,  The  Death  of 41 

Gathering    Shells    from    the    Sea- 
Shore 48 

Geordie 11 

Girl,  The  Lavender 70 

Gipsy  Laddie,  The 10 

Gipsy's  Warning,  The 43 

Go  in  and  Out  the  Window 73 

Golden  Stair,  The 35 

Goodbye,  Annie  Darling 68 

Go  Tell  Little  Mary  Not  to  Weep. 21 

Grandfather's  Clock 50 

Grandma's  Advice 62 

Gray  Mare,  My  Father's 57 

Green  Gravel,  Green  Gravel 74 

Green,  Jessie 35 

Grimes,  Old 38 

Guiteau,  Charles 20, 34 

Gum  Tree  Canoe,  The 64 

Guy  Fawkes 13 

Gwine  to  Run  All  Night 66 

Happy  Day  Has  Come,  Kate,  The .  40 

Hawthorne  Tree,  The 47 

Home  Beyon'  the  Tide,  The 54 

Horse  Wrangler,  The 29 

Hot  Cross  Buns 76 

House  Carpenter,  The 10 

I  Am  a  Cobbler  Bold 68 

I  Am  Talking  in  My  Sleep 46 

I  Coujd  Not  Call  Her  Mother 38 

I  Have  a  Fellow ..68 


INDEX 


85 


I'll  Be  All  Smiles  Tonight 39 

I'll  Hang  My  Harp  on  a  Willow 

Tree 14 

I'll  Not  Marry  at  All 59 

Indian  Legend,  An 66 

Indian,  The  Aged 66 

In  Former  Times 12 

In  Good  Old  Colony  Times 77 

In  the  Baggage  Coach  Ahead 56 

In  the  Gloaming 45 

In  the  Summer  of  Sixty 23 

Irma  Brown,  We'll  Take  Miss 73 

I'se  Going  from  the  Cotton  Field . .  63 
I  Stood  on  the  Bridge  at  Midnight .  67 

Itisket,  Itasket 74 

I  Told  Him  Not  to  Grieve  After 

Me 58 

've  a  Longing  in  My  Heart 45 

've  Something  Sweet  to  Tell  You.  .46 

Want  to  Be  an  Angel 54 

Want  to  Be  a  Cowboy 22 

Went  Down  Town 72 

Went  to  the  Animal  Fair 71 

Will  Tell  You  of  a  Fellow 61 

Wish  I  Was  Single  Again 58 

Jack  Williams 34 

Jacob's  Ladder 54 

James  Bird 69 

Jamestown  Flood,  The 41 

Jealous  Lover,  The 17 

Jennie  Jones,  We've  Come  to  See . .  73 

Jerry,  Go  Oil  the  Car 59 

Jessie  Green 35 

Jesse  James 34, 41 

Jim  Bovine 57 

Joe  Bowers 32 

Joe,  Poor  Little 36 

John  Brown  and  His  Little  Injuns .  75 

Johnny,  Poor 57 

Johnny  Randall 9, 44 

Johnny  Sands 57 

Johnstown  Flood,  The 41 

Jones,  Old 55 

Jordan's  Stormy  Banks,  On 53 

Juanita..  ..47 


Just  After  the  Battle,  Mother 40 

Just  as  the  Sun  Went  Down 39 

Just  Before  the  Battle,  Mother. . .  .40 

Katie's  Secret 47 

Keep  More  than  One  String  to  Your 

Bow 61 

Kidd,  Captain 33 

Kingdom  Coming 64 

King  William  Was  King  James's 

Son 74 

Kinkaider's  Song,  The 31 

Kitty  Clyde 47 

Kitty  Wells 65 

Lady  Elgin,  The. 41 

Lament,  The  Sailor  Bride's 42 

Last  Fierce  Charge,  The 39 

Lavender  Girl,  The 70 

Lazy  Mary 74 

Lee,  Anna 48 

Let's  Go  to  the  Woods 15 

Let  the  Dead  and  the  Beautiful 

Rest 37 

Life's  Railway  to  Heaven 56 

Light  in  the  Window,  A 54 

Listen  to  My  Tale  of  Woe 58 

Listen  to  the  Mocking  Bird 37 

Little  Barefoot 36 

Little  Brown  Church  in  the  Vale, 

The 51 

Little  Brown  Jug,  The 61 

Little  Em'ly 52 

Little  German  Home  Across  the 

Sea,  The 52 

Little  More  Cider,  A 66 

Little  Nell 35,42 

Little  Old  Log  Cabin  in  the  Lane, 

The 63 

Little  Old  Sod  Shanty  on  My 

Claim,  The 24 

Little  Robin,  The 70 

Little  Willie  Went  to  Heaven 35 

London  Bridge  is  Falling  Down ...  74 
London,  the  Rich  Merchant  of. .  13, 18 

Lonely  River,  On  the  Banks  of 49 

Lone  Prairie,  The 26 


86 


INDEX 


Lorena 46,  65 

Lorella,  Lorla,  Lora,  etc.,  Poor. ...  17 

Lord  Bayham 9 

Lord  Lovel 9 

Lord  Thomas 11 

Lover,  The  Jealous 17 

Lover's  Return,  The 16 

Lovely  Caroline  of  Edinboro  Town.  18 

Lucy  Long 65 

Lurella,  Poor 17 

Maid  of  the  Dismal  Swamp,  The . .  67 

Market  Town,  To 76 

Marriage  Rite  Was  Over,  The 38 

Mary  and  Martha 63 

Mary  O'  the  Wild  Moor 19 

Maumee,  The  Pretty 66 

McFee,  Young 34 

Measly  Shame,  A 59 

Meditation,  The  Cowboy's 27 

Message,  The  Dying  Girl's 22 

Milkmaid,  The 43 

Miller  Boy,  The 73 

Milwaukee  Fire,  The 41 

Missouri 60 

Mocking  Bird,  Listen  to  the . .     . .  37 


Oats  and  Beans  and  Barley 74 

O    Babe,    My   Home   Is   on   the 

Bayou 65 

Ocean  Burial 42 

O  Johnny  Dear  Why  Did  You  Go? .  19 

Old  Beau,  My 60 

Old  Crow,  The 13 

Old  Dan  Tucker 73 

Old  Dog  Tray 50 

Old  Elm  Tree,  The 37,  51 

Old  Grimes 38 

Old  Jones 55 

Old  Kitchen  Floor,  The 50 

Old  P.  D.,  On  the  Banks  of  the ...  17 

Old  Quebec 75 

Old  Rosin  the  Bow 14 

Old  Rover 75 

Old  Shawnee,  The 17 

Old  Wooden  Rocker,  The 50 

Ole  Sukey  Blueskin 64 

0  Mr.  Captain,  Stop  the  Ship 61 

O  My  Heart  Goes  Pit-a-Pat 62 

One-Hoss  Shay,  The 67 

One  Two,  Buckle  My  Shoe 75 

On  Jordan's  Stormy  Banks 53 

Only  a  Lock  of  Her  Hair 37 

.49 
.36 

Ossian's  Serenade 67 

Out  West 27 

Over  the  Garden  Wall 58 

Over  the  Hills  to  the  Poor  House.  .38 
Own  Native  Land,  My 50 


Model  Church,  The 51 

Mohea,  The  Pretty. .  66      On  the  Banks  of  Lonely  Rlver 

Mountain  Home,  My 49      OrPhan's  Lament,  The 

Mulberry  Bush,  The 74 

My  Brother,  0  My  Brother 62 

My  Father's  Gray  Mare 57 

My  Little  German  Home  Across 

the  Sea 50 

My  Mountain  Home 49 

My  Old  Beau 60 

My  Own  Native  Land 50 

My  Pete 64 

Nail,  Boys,  Nail 54 

Needle's  Eye,  The 73 

Nell,  Little 35, 42 

Nelly  Bly 64 

Never  Can  Thy  Home  Be  Mine. .  .44 

Nora  O'Neal 19 

No,  Sir 43 

Nun,  The  Dying 21 


Package  of  Old  Letters,  A 21 

Paper  of  Pins,  A 44 

Pardon  Came  Too  Late,  The 39 

Pass  One  Window  Tidy  O 76 

Pass  Under  the  Rod 52 

Pete,  My 64 

Pharaoh's  Daughter 70 

Picket  Guard,  The 67 

Pig  in  the  Parlor 74 

Poor  Johnny 57 

Poor  Floella,  Florella,  etc 17 

Poor  Little  Joe , 36 


INDEX 


87 


Poor  Lorella,  Lorla,  Lora,  Lurella, 

etc 17 

Poor  Robin 74 

Pop  Goes  the  Weasel 71 

Prairie,  The  Lone 26 

Prentice  Boy,  The 17 

Pretty  Maumee,  The 66 

Pull  for  the  Shore 53 

Pulling  Hard  Against  the  Stream . .  54 
Putting  on  the  Style 62 

Quaker's  Courtship,  The 15, 44 

Railroad  Song 61 

Railway  to  Heaven,  Life's 56 

Randall,  Johnny 9, 44 

Returned,  The 71 

Rich  Merchant  of  London,  The .  13, 18 

Rich  Man,  Poor  Man 78 

Rich  Young  Farmer,  The 16 

Robin,  Bobbin,  Richard,  and  John .  16 

Robin,  The  Little 70 

Rockaby  Baby 76 

Rock  Me  to  Sleep,  Mother 67 

Romish  Lady,  The  Death  of 14 

Rosewood  Cradle,  The 52 

RosieNell 49 

Rowser's,  To 71 

Sailor  Boy 69 

Sailor  Boys,  The  Three 10, 42 

Sailor's  Bride's  Lament,  The 42 

Sailor's  Trade,  The 42 

Seven  Long  Years  in  a  Prison  Cell . .  34 

Shadows  on  the  Wall 48 

Shamus  O'Brien 15 

Shawnee,  The  Old 17 

Sheriff's  Sale,  The 39,50 

She  Was  Bred  in  Old  Kentucky. .  .48 
Ship  that  Never  Returned,  The.  .  .41 

Silver  Dagger,  The 17 

Since    My    Mother's    Dead    and 

Gone 36 

Sing  Me  a  Song  of  the  South ....  21, 40 

SkiptoMaloo 73 

Skip  to  My  Lou 73 

Sleeping  for  the  Flag 40 

Sleighing  with  the  Girls 62 


Soldier,  The 14 

Soldier's  Daughter,  The 36 

Soldier's  Funeral,  The 40 

Someone's  Tall  and  Handsome ....  77 

Song  for  the  Girl  I  Love,  A 45 

Sorrows  of  Yamba,  The 63 

Spanish  Cavalier,  The 69 

Springfield  Mountain 19 

Starving  to  Death  on  a  Govern 
ment  Claim 30 

Stepmother,  The 38 

Sucking  Cider  Through  a  Straw ...  58 

Summer  of  Sixty,  In  the 23 

Susie  Brown 74 

Sweet  Bunch  of  Daisies 47 

Sweet  Bye  and  Bye,  In  the 53 

Sweet  Ellen 46 

Sweet  Fields  of  Violo,  The 71 

Sweet  Mary 46 

Swinging  in  the  Lane 49 

Swing  Low,  Sweet  Chariot 63 

Teetotallers  are  Coming,  The 55 

Texas  Rangers 28, 41,  66 

The  Aged  Indian 66 

The  Aged  Man 12 

The  Baggage  Coach  Ahead 56 

The  Bed  Bug 60 

The  Bedroom  Window 18 

The  Beggar  Girl 36,  55 

The  Birdies' Ball 60 

The  Blue  and  The  Gray 39 

The  Boston  Burglar 34 

The  Boy  and  the  Bird 72 

The  Brakeman's  Dream 56 

The  Butcher  Boy 18 

The  Camptown  Races 66 

tfhe   Charming   Young   Widow   I 

Met  in  The  Train 59 

The  Coldwater  Pledge 55 

The  Constant  Farmer's  Son 20 

The  Coolen  Bawn 15 

The  Cowboy's  Meditation 27 

The  Courtship  of  Billy  Grimes 43 

The  Death  of  a  Romish  Lady 14 

The  Death  of  Garfield 41 


88 


INDEX 


The  Dreary  Black  Hills 22 

The  Drowsy  Sleeper 18 

The  Drunkard's  Lone  Child ...  36,  55 

The  Dying  Calif ornian 20 

The  Dying  Cowboy 26 

The  Dying  Girl's  Message 22 

The  Dying  Nun 21 

The  Dying  Soldier 40 

The  Farmer's  Boy 12 

The  Fatal  Wedding 19 

The  Frog's  Courtship 76 

The  Gipsy  Laddie 10 

The  Gipsy's  Warning 43 

The  Golden  Stair 35 

The  Gum  Tree  Canoe 64 

The  Happy  Day  Has  Come,  Kate. 40 

The  Hawthorne  Tree 47 

The  Horse  Wrangler 29 

The  House  Carpenter 10 

The  Jamestown  Flood 41 

The  Jealous  Lover 17 

The  Johnstown  Flood 41 

The  Kinkaider's  Song 31 

The  Last  Fierce  Charge 39 

The  Lady  Elgin 41 

The  Lavender  Girl 70 

The  Little  Brown  Church  in  the 

Vale 51 

The  Little  Old  Log  Cabin  in  the 

Lane 63 

The  Little  Old  Sod  Shanty  on  My 

Claim 24 

The  Little  Robin 70 

The  Lone  Prairie. 26 

The  Lover's  Return 16 

The  Maid  of  the  Dismal  Swamp . .  67 

The  Marriage  Rite  Was  Over 38 

The  Milkmaid 43 

The  Miller  Boy 73 

The  Milwaukee  Fire 41 

The  Model  Church 51 

The  Needle's  Eye 73 

The  Old  Crow 13 

The  Old  Elm  Tree 37,  51 

The  Old  Kitchen  Floor . .  . .  50 


The  Old  Wooden  Rocker 50 

The  One-Hoss  Shay 67 

The  Orphan's  Lament 36 

The  Pardon  Came  Too  Late 39 

The  Picket  Guard 67 

The  Prentice  Boy 17 

The  Pretty  Maumee 66 

The  Pretty  Mohea 66 

The  Quaker's  Courtship 15, 44 

The  Returned 71 

The  Rich  Merchant  of  London. . .  .13 

The  Rich  Young  Farmer 16 

The  Rosewood  Cradle 52 

The  Sailor  Bride's  Lament 42 

The  Sheriff's  Sale 39,  50 

The  Ship  that  Never  Returned. . .  .41 

The  Silver  Dagger 17 

The  Soldier 14 

The  Soldier's  Daughter 36 

The  Soldier's  Funeral 40 

The  Sorrows  of  Yamba 63 

The  Spanish  Cavalier 69 

The  Stepmother 38 

The  Sweet  Bye  and  Bye 53 

The  Texas  Rangers 28, 41 

The  Teetotallers  are  Coming 55 

The  Three  Babes 10 

The  Tombigbee  River 64 

The  Two  Drummers 53 

The  Village  Bride 18 

The  Wandering  Refugee 72 

The  Weeping  Willow 17 

The  Young  Man  Who  Wouldn't 

Hoe  Corn 58 

There  Is  Somebody  Waiting  46 

There's  Many  a  Shlip 16 

There's  One  More  River  to  Cross . .  76 

There  Was  an  Old  Woman 11 

There  Was  an  Old  Woman  Lived 

on  the  Sea  Strand 19 

Thomas,  Lord 11 

Three  Babes 10 

Three  Little  Kittens 76 

Three  Sailor  Boys,  The 10,  42 

Tilly 35 


INDEX 


89 


Times,  In  Former 12 

Tippecanoe  and  Tyler 60 

'Tis  True,  Dear  Heart,  We're 

Fading 47 

To  Market  Town 76 

Tombigbee  River 64 

Toppin,  (Turpin)  and  the 

Lawyer 12,  34 

To  Rowser's 71 

Trade,  Sailor's 42 

Twenty  Froggies  Went  to  School.  .71 

Two  Babes 51 

Two  Drummers,  The 53 

Two  Little  Boys 10 

Under  the  Cocoanut  Tree 65 

Uncle  Tohido 66 

Vane,  Florence 45 

Vilikens  and  His  Dinah 18 

Violet  from  My  Mother's  Tomb, 
A 49 

Wait  for  the  Wagon 47 

Wake,  Nicodemus 63 

Wandering  Refugee,  The 72 

War  of  1812,  Song  of  the 69 

Water,  Water,  White  Flower 74 

Wedding,  The  Fatal 19 

Weeping  Willow,  The 17 


We'll  Stem  the  Storm 58 

We  Shall  Meet 38 

We'll  Take  Miss  Irma  Brown 73 

We've  Come  to  See  Miss  Jennie 

Jones 73 

What  Can  the  Matter  Be? 76 

What  Care  I  for  Gold  or  Silver? ....  77 

What  is  the  Use  of  Repining? 52 

What  Will  You  Give  Me  if  I  Get 

Up? 44 

When  the  Harvest  Days  are  Over .  .  48 
Where  There's  a  Will  There's  a 

Way 52 

Why  Can't  I  Have  a  Beau? 60 

Why  Did  They  Dig  Ma's  Grave  so 

Deep? 35 

Willie  and  Kate 47 

Willie  and  Mary 18 

William  Reilly 15 

Williams,  Jack 34 

Will  You  Love  Me  When  I'm  Old? .  45 

Woman,  There  was  an  Old 11 

Wren  Shooting,  The 15 

Wyoming  Song 25 

Yamba,  The  Sorrows  of 63 

Young  Charlotte 19 

Young  McFee 34 

Young   Man  Who  Wouldn't  Hoe 
Corn,  The 58 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 


AN  INITIAL  FINE  OF  25  CENTS 

WILL  BE  ASSESSED  FOR  FAILURE  TO  RETURN 
THIS  BOOK  ON  THE  DATE  DUE.  THE  PENALTY 
WILL  INCREASE  TO  5O  CENTS  ON  THE  FOURTH 
DAY  AND  TO  $1.OO  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
OVERDUE. 


YC ! 07668 


818093 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


- 


